News / Author / Vivek Wadhwa

Vivek Wadhwa

Articles by Vivek Wadhwa

India should build its own ChatGPT

India has already taken strides in space research and cancer care. It can reap enormous benefits by spurring AI innovation

AI is a public good, and the best way to support its creation is to ensure all resources required are publicly accessible(AP)

opinion

Published on Aug 31, 2023 10:32 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa, Vinita Gupta

Resurrecting the American dream

In the past two decades, protectionist US policies on immigrants forced tech founders and engineers to move away. Now, a new California law hopes to change that

Indian H1-B holders have to wait as long as 89 years for their permanent residency visas according to the Cato Institute(PTI)

opinion

Updated on Aug 02, 2023 12:42 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

India and the US can together beat cancer

The US Cancer Moonshot initiative is now a global effort, and the partnership with India could help achieve its goals faster.

India is better positioned than any country in the world to collect data from tens of millions of people to build the AI models that can not only identify many more cancer cures(Pixabay)

opinion

Published on Jul 24, 2023 09:40 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Collaborate to spur global innovation

Rapid advances in fields such as robotics, AI and nanotechnology, along with the threat of China, have made international partnerships key. In this aspect, CERN shows the way forward

The experience with Covid-19 vaccines showed some of the disadvantages of techno-nationalist strategies. China’s refusal to participate in global standard innovation left it with an inferior vaccine (AFP)

opinion

Updated on Apr 03, 2023 07:24 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Crispr could help India, but proceed cautiously

Crispr presents a remarkable opportunity for India to reset the global balance of power in food production and to become more self-sufficient

opinion

Updated on Feb 22, 2023 07:41 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa and Alex Salkever

India’s values, culture can lead the world in science

India took on a key position on the world stage by assuming the presidency of the G20. This year, the country will aim to provide leadership to a group of countries that comprises 85% of the world’s GDP and 60% of its population. Doing so will require vision, determination, and courage. Over the next few weeks, top leaders and experts from across sectors will weigh in on how to spark transformative global change. Today, Vivek Wadhwa writes on the strides that research can make in India

India’s leadership of G20 comes at an opportune time. The world is suffering from widespread inequality and an industrially induced climate crisis, and India has the ability to solve such global problems without creating more of them. As the PM said, India is brimming with enthusiasm in science and tech, with its youngsters leveraging the power of science to make our planet better. (HT Photo)

opinion

Published on Feb 04, 2023 07:53 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

AI needs guardrails, and tight regulations

Stakeholders must work together to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared broadly and that policies are put in place to support workers who may be negatively impacted by these technologies

There is a deep flaw with all machine learning technologies: They are designed to mimic the way the human brain’s neural networks function, but they do this in a limited and imperfect way. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

opinion

Updated on Dec 23, 2022 07:56 AM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa and ChatGPT

India can and will lead in solving global problems

I am confident that India’s entrepreneurs will work hand-in-hand with its scientists to take advantage of all of these technologies and opportunities — and become a developed country, leading the world in innovation, by the time it reaches 100 years of Independence

The opportunity for India is twofold: To become a manufacturing hub for Asia and to help the West bring manufacturing home from China (Shutterstock)

opinion

Updated on Nov 12, 2022 08:03 AM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

US press is misinforming readers about Kashmir

Some of the international coverage India receives is because of what western media perceives as a hard turn to the Right. It is fair to be critical and to hold Indian leaders to account. But when such agenda employs dishonest reportage, the damage it does is to the cause of democracy and freedom — and press credibility

The Kashmir I saw had an economy that was blooming, infrastructure better than in most parts of India, people who were so warm and friendly that they welcomed me into their homes and shared meals, and children of both sexes from nomadic tribes in mountainous areas receiving primary education. (AFP)

opinion

Published on Oct 02, 2022 08:09 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Prepare now for the era of quantum computing

Quantum computing will solve complex scientific problems in a matter of seconds. However, if not regulated, it can be very dangerous. Our failings with AI hold key lessons

We must institute strategic controls that both correspond to the power of the technology and respect democratic values, human rights, and fundamental freedoms. (Shutterstock)

opinion

Published on Aug 21, 2022 09:19 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa, Mauritz Kop

How India is shaping the future of e-commerce

If it works, ONDC could fundamentally change the rules of the game for e-commerce and retail — potentially on a global scale — and herald a future of more open and competitive retail with less dominance by vertically integrated platforms

Early reports from ONDC’s initial roll-out in four cities are positive. If it works, ONDC could fundamentally change the rules of the game for e-commerce and retail — potentially on a global scale — and herald a future of more open and competitive retail with less dominance by vertically integrated platforms. It could show United States (US) regulators how to take on monopolies. (Burhaan Kinu/HT PHOTO)

opinion

Updated on Aug 07, 2022 08:57 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa, Ismail Amla, and Alex Salkever

Forget Web3. India is miles ahead with its UPI

As the crypto craze is dying down, Web 3 is the West’s new obsession. However, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) stands out as a stable and critical technological invention for the future

The best indication of its usefulness is that UPI has grown wildly popular. In six years, transactions running on UPI have skyrocketed, now exceeding $100 billion per month. India is leaping ahead of the world. (Mint File Photo)

opinion

Published on Jul 03, 2022 08:49 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa, Ismail Amla, Alex Salkever

Why India is better off without Musk and Tesla

Elon’s insistence on conditions unacceptable to the Indian government may be a major gift: It will provide the Indian automotive industry with the space necessary to build vehicles that will take the global automotive industry by storm.

India made the right decision in locking the Chinese-made Teslas out, because India is developing a new generation of electric vehicles (EVs), built for the masses, which could dominate global markets. (Reuters)

opinion

Published on Jun 09, 2022 08:38 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Elon Musk is painting an unrealistic picture of AI

The truth is there is a missing link between today’s AI, which is primarily pattern recognition, and the kind of Star Trek computer-level AI that Musk is dreaming about

AI can do amazing things such as speech recognition and holding surrealistic, entertaining conversations about virtually any topic. Still, when it comes to reliability and coherence, current AI is nowhere near what it needs to be.(REUTERS)

opinion

Updated on Jun 06, 2022 08:32 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa and Gary Marcus

Joe Biden should target Russia’s ability to innovate

For the US, immigration is its greatest advantage. For Russia, a brain drain will have serious impacts on its economy. The US must, therefore, move beyond sanctions and welcome Russian innovators with a green card and a plane ticket

What’s good for the US (or other destinations for Russian skilled immigrants) is good for the world. If America lets Russian scientists and innovators in, their futures will be brighter and so will the world’s. (Bloomberg)

opinion

Updated on Mar 05, 2022 12:15 AM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Why do Indian-Americans succeed?

No matter what your status was in India, in America, you start at the bottom of the social ladder. The best enter corporate America; they help each other; and they display rare values

opinion

Updated on Dec 06, 2021 08:06 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

The killer drones are here. Get ready

The next generation of drones has enormous destructive potential. India must be prepared and not be complacent

Asymmetrical warfare disproportionately benefits the forces of chaos rather than the forces of liberty. We require a global moratorium on killer robots, including unmanned aerial vehicles. But it won’t happen (Shutterstock)

opinion

Updated on Jul 07, 2021 07:58 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

At the mercy of big tech billionaires

India needs stringent data protection laws. It also needs to encourage its tech industry to develop competitive social media products

When Facebook gains the data on a billion Indians, it will be able to hold the Indian government hostage too. It didn’t dare to pull this stunt in Europe because of the General Data Protection Regulations (AP)

opinion

Published on Jan 13, 2021 07:46 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Silicon Valley is in for a rough ride

The days of regulators prioritising innovation over compliance may be over. The traditionally warm relationship between the Democratic Party and Big Tech is becoming contentious

Facebook Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies at a House Financial Services Committee hearing in Washington, US, October 23, 2019(REUTERS)

analysis

Published on Jan 04, 2021 08:21 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa & Tarun Wadhwa

India must take the lead in devising bio-defences

India must use genomics, synthetic biology, sensors, 3D printing, and AI to analyse data and develop treatments

It is time for India to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat by the coronavirus — and to implement the grand plans to build its bio-defences and benefit the world by curing disease(REUTERS)

analysis

Updated on Sep 22, 2020 11:40 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

The dangers of genetic engineering | Opinion

Sars-CoV-2 may not have been intentionally engineered, but the world stares at a crisis

There have been no checks or balances, and it is too late to stop the spread of these technologies. The genie is out of the bottle. The only solution, now, is to accelerate the good side of these technologies and build defences(Shutterstock)

analysis

Updated on Sep 22, 2020 09:04 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

India must focus on digital infrastructure, data protection laws

The same technologies that have done a lot of good, however, also imperil India’s freedoms. They have widened the global equity gap, created echo chambers of disinformation and empowered a small group of foreign companies.

A VSNL communication centre lying in disuse.

india news

Updated on Aug 15, 2020 03:49 PM IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByVivek Wadhwa

The big secret of tech innovation | Opinion

Imitation is good. If you can’t imitate, buy the company. And then improve. But don’t steal IP

The only line that should not be crossed is intellectual property theft(SHUTTERSTOCK)

analysis

Updated on Jul 08, 2020 07:36 AM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

On tech, India was naive. It has finally woken up | Opinion

Entrepreneurs now have a chance to build technologies which can serve as alternatives to Chinese dominance

Chinese technology protectionism created a fertile ground for local start-ups by eliminating the threat of foreign predators. The government selected what companies it could best control and gave them the advantage.(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

analysis

Updated on Jul 02, 2020 05:54 AM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

The curse of Artificial Intelligence

AI is not presently suited to making judgement calls. Until we create systems that do an excellent job of excising the bias and retaining the useful historical data about us and our lives, AI left unchecked is more of a risk than a benefit to society

The immediate risk to society from AI comes not from robots or amazingly intelligent machines, but from the inexorable creep of artificial intelligence into our lives(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

analysis

Updated on Apr 18, 2019 07:59 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Instead of pursuing an MBA, start or join world-changing companies

Entrepreneurs can out-innovate big players since the cost of developing technology has fallen

Students now have opportunities that their parents could never imagine. My message to them is always the same: use your intellect and energy to make the world a better place; you surely can(iStock)

analysis

Published on Mar 29, 2019 06:19 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Anyone can become an entrepreneur. Here’s why

Research done by a Duke and Harvard team found that family entrepreneurship, prior interest, and extreme interest, did not heavily influence the success of first-generation entrepreneur. So what had? Tertiary education — though not which university they’d graduated from — provided a huge advantage.

A Duke and Harvard research team found that 52% of entrepreneurs surveyed were — just as were Bill Gates (in photo), Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Naveen Tewari, and Vijay Shekhar Sharma — the first in their immediate families to start a business.(AP)

columns

Updated on Mar 11, 2019 07:31 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

OPINION | Pay close attention to matters of the heart

Technology executives are notorious for believing they have special powers and are indestructible. They become obsessed with making money and achieving success — to the detriment of their health. I know because I am one of them.

Heart disease is the leading killer of adults in the US, and, according to The New York Times Americans of south Asian extraction are four times as likely as members of the general population to develop it, and tend to do so a decade sooner(Shutterstock)

analysis

Published on Feb 20, 2019 08:51 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Come clean when things go wrong

The controversies involving Jeff Bezos and Ralph Northam show why building trust is important

The reclusive billionaire, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, turned crisis into opportunity by disclosing embarrassing information and positioning himself as a superhero, telling everyone that he was standing up to a bully on their behalf.(AFP)

columns

Updated on Feb 12, 2019 11:16 AM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Regardless of the fears and risk, the space race will benefit all of us

The opportunities are endless: biological experimentation; resource extraction; figuring out how to live on other planets; space travel; and tourism

The NASA space shuttle programme cost about $209 billion over its lifetime and made a total of 135 flights, costing an average per launch of nearly $1.6 billion. Team Indus has built their lunar rover with only $35 million of funding and a team of rag tag engineers in Bangalore(HT File Photo)

analysis

Updated on Jan 19, 2019 02:51 PM IST

ByVivek Wadhwa

Copy

Whatsapp Twitter Facebook Linkedin

Vivek Wadhwa

India has already taken strides in space research and cancer care. It can reap enormous benefits by spurring AI innovation

In the past two decades, protectionist US policies on immigrants forced tech founders and engineers to move away. Now, a new California law hopes to change that

The US Cancer Moonshot initiative is now a global effort, and the partnership with India could help achieve its goals faster.

Rapid advances in fields such as robotics, AI and nanotechnology, along with the threat of China, have made international partnerships key. In this aspect, CERN shows the way forward

Crispr presents a remarkable opportunity for India to reset the global balance of power in food production and to become more self-sufficient

Stakeholders must work together to ensure that the benefits of AI are shared broadly and that policies are put in place to support workers who may be negatively impacted by these technologies

I am confident that India’s entrepreneurs will work hand-in-hand with its scientists to take advantage of all of these technologies and opportunities — and become a developed country, leading the world in innovation, by the time it reaches 100 years of Independence

Quantum computing will solve complex scientific problems in a matter of seconds. However, if not regulated, it can be very dangerous. Our failings with AI hold key lessons

If it works, ONDC could fundamentally change the rules of the game for e-commerce and retail — potentially on a global scale — and herald a future of more open and competitive retail with less dominance by vertically integrated platforms

As the crypto craze is dying down, Web 3 is the West’s new obsession. However, India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) stands out as a stable and critical technological invention for the future

Elon’s insistence on conditions unacceptable to the Indian government may be a major gift: It will provide the Indian automotive industry with the space necessary to build vehicles that will take the global automotive industry by storm.

The truth is there is a missing link between today’s AI, which is primarily pattern recognition, and the kind of Star Trek computer-level AI that Musk is dreaming about

For the US, immigration is its greatest advantage. For Russia, a brain drain will have serious impacts on its economy. The US must, therefore, move beyond sanctions and welcome Russian innovators with a green card and a plane ticket

No matter what your status was in India, in America, you start at the bottom of the social ladder. The best enter corporate America; they help each other; and they display rare values

The next generation of drones has enormous destructive potential. India must be prepared and not be complacent

India needs stringent data protection laws. It also needs to encourage its tech industry to develop competitive social media products

The days of regulators prioritising innovation over compliance may be over. The traditionally warm relationship between the Democratic Party and Big Tech is becoming contentious

India must use genomics, synthetic biology, sensors, 3D printing, and AI to analyse data and develop treatments

Sars-CoV-2 may not have been intentionally engineered, but the world stares at a crisis

The same technologies that have done a lot of good, however, also imperil India’s freedoms. They have widened the global equity gap, created echo chambers of disinformation and empowered a small group of foreign companies.

Imitation is good. If you can’t imitate, buy the company. And then improve. But don’t steal IP

Entrepreneurs now have a chance to build technologies which can serve as alternatives to Chinese dominance

AI is not presently suited to making judgement calls. Until we create systems that do an excellent job of excising the bias and retaining the useful historical data about us and our lives, AI left unchecked is more of a risk than a benefit to society

Entrepreneurs can out-innovate big players since the cost of developing technology has fallen

Technology executives are notorious for believing they have special powers and are indestructible. They become obsessed with making money and achieving success — to the detriment of their health. I know because I am one of them.

The controversies involving Jeff Bezos and Ralph Northam show why building trust is important

The opportunities are endless: biological experimentation; resource extraction; figuring out how to live on other planets; space travel; and tourism

Join Hindustan Times

Create free account and unlock exciting features like

Your Subscription Plan