Mitesh Khapra, an associate professor at IIT Madras, has been recognized as one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people in artificial intelligence (AI) for 2025. He shares the spotlight with global leaders like Elon Musk and Sam Altman, thanks to his groundbreaking research in natural language processing and machine learning, particularly in making AI accessible to Indian languages.
Khapra's work has been instrumental in reshaping India's AI landscape, especially through his initiative AI4Bharat, which he co-founded in 2019. AI4Bharat aims to collect and build open-source datasets and tools that allow AI systems to understand and process Indian languages. This effort has not only contributed significantly to India's AI research but also supports the government's Bhashini mission, which seeks to provide digital services in local languages through AI.
Khapra's initiative has enabled Indian students to focus on challenges specific to Indian languages, shifting the landscape of language technology research in the country. AI4Bharat's datasets power almost every Indian startup working on voice technology for regional languages and supply 80% of the data for the Bhashini program.
The recognition highlights India's growing contribution to the global AI landscape, not by replicating Silicon Valley, but by focusing on problems unique to its people. Khapra's work demonstrates that influence in AI doesn't always require a unicorn startup or a multibillion-dollar valuation; sometimes, it comes from open-source code, datasets built district by district, and a belief that the future of AI must speak every language.
