The MeitY-IndiaAI Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence, Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam (CAIK) was launched on 30 September 2026 in Thiruvananthapuram. Kerala Industries, IT and AI Minister P. K. Kunhalikutty inaugurated the centre, which will work under the national IndiaAI Mission. The centre has started operations from its facility in Kabani Building at Technopark Phase IV, with its first batch of 15 AI startups.
What Is CAIK and What Will It Do?
The Centre for AI in Keralam, called CAIK, is an Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence set up jointly by the central and Kerala governments in Thiruvananthapuram. CAIK exists to turn applied AI research and local talent into real products, startups and public services. The centre brings together government departments, academic institutions, industry and startups on one platform, with a clear focus on research, innovation and commercialisation.
CAIK works across five activity areas. These include applied AI research, support for AI native startups, computing infrastructure and datasets, AI use in government and public services, and skill development. The goal is to take an idea from the laboratory to a startup, from a startup to a deployed solution, and from Kerala to national and global markets. The centre has stated that it will help founders with computing support, mentors, research partners, pilot customers and investor links, so that products do not remain limited to experiments.
Who Implements CAIK?
CAIK is established under the IndiaAI Mission of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). MeitY is the central ministry that handles electronics, information technology and digital governance in India. The Kerala partner is the state Department of Electronics and Information Technology.
Digital University Kerala (DUK) acts as the implementing agency. DUK is formally called the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology. The Government of Kerala created it in 2020 by upgrading the Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management Kerala, which was set up in 2000. The university is headquartered at Technopark Phase IV (Technocity) in Thiruvananthapuram and focuses on postgraduate teaching, doctoral research and innovation in digital technologies. It runs programmes in areas such as artificial intelligence, cyber security, electronics, informatics and data analytics. Its motto is Curating a Responsible Digital World.
Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd acts as the industry partner. This pairing is designed to combine academic review with business experience. The university provides research strength, faculty guidance and student talent, while the industry partner brings startup mentoring, go to market planning and investor connections.
The initiative is part of the Chief Minister’s 100 day programme. It aims to strengthen Kerala’s people centric AI startup ecosystem and support India’s goal of building sovereign AI capability, which means developing models, datasets and tools within the country rather than depending fully on foreign systems.
What Is the IndiaAI Mission?
The IndiaAI Mission is the national programme for artificial intelligence in India. The Union Cabinet approved the mission on 7 March 2024 with a budget outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore for five years. The stated vision is Making AI in India and Making AI Work for India. The mission is implemented by the IndiaAI Independent Business Division under the Digital India Corporation.
The mission is built on seven pillars. These pillars give CAIK its national context, since CAIK is one of the state level centres created under this framework.
| Pillar | What It Covers |
|---|---|
| IndiaAI Compute | Shared access to high end graphics processing units (GPUs) for startups and researchers through a compute portal and marketplace |
| IndiaAI Innovation Centre | Development of indigenous large multimodal models and domain specific foundation models trained on Indian datasets |
| AIKosh Datasets Platform | A unified platform, also called AIKosha, for quality non personal datasets, models and tools for startups and researchers |
| Application Development Initiative | AI applications for critical sectors based on problem statements from central ministries and state departments |
| FutureSkills | More AI courses at undergraduate, masters and PhD levels, plus Data and AI Labs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities |
| Startup Financing | Streamlined funding support and global acceleration support for deep tech AI startups |
| Safe and Trusted AI | Tools, guidelines and governance frameworks for responsible, safe and ethical AI use |
Two tools under the mission matter directly for centres like CAIK. The IndiaAI Compute Portal provides subsidised GPU access so that small startups can train models without buying costly hardware. AIKosh provides curated datasets across sectors such as health, agriculture and education, along with models and sandbox facilities for testing. Recent official updates state that AIKosh hosts over 15,000 datasets, 300 AI models and 30 toolkits (as of August 2026).
First Cohort of 15 AI Startups
A major highlight of the launch was the announcement of CAIK’s first cohort of 15 AI startups. Selection letters were handed over at the inaugural event, and the startups have started operations at the CAIK facility in Kabani Building, Technopark Phase IV.
The startups were selected across three stages. These are pre-incubation for very early ideas, incubation for building and testing products, and acceleration for scaling ready products to markets. This structure allows students and new founders as well as growing companies to enter at the right stage.
The 15 names are Plenti, Lejit AI, VitalView AI, Keynos, Court Click, Audio Realities, Metanoa Labs, Katidhan, Doculu, Glianomics, Tranzmeo, Pixolish, Resfeber, VibraSync and Open Healthcare Network. They work in areas such as healthcare and MedTech, climate and AgriTech, legal technology, enterprise and document AI, industrial AI for critical infrastructure, Edge AI and intelligent camera systems. Edge AI refers to AI that runs directly on local devices such as cameras or sensors instead of depending fully on distant cloud servers.
CAIK also exchanged Letters of Intent for collaborative AI work with two institutions. These are the Dr Azad Moopan AI and Robotics Center of Excellence at the SAFI Institute of Advanced Studies and the Cochin Cancer Research Institute. Such partnerships link the startup cohort to hospitals and research labs for testing and pilot use.
Kerala Startup Ecosystem Link
Kerala already has a dedicated startup support system through the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM). KSUM is the nodal agency of the Government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation. It runs startup registration, incubation support, funding links and innovation programmes from hubs including Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram.
CAIK adds a specialised AI layer to this base. While KSUM supports startups across sectors, CAIK focuses only on applied and deep tech AI, with access to computing, datasets and research mentoring. A separate Bio-AI Centre of Excellence under KSUM at Kochi focuses on life sciences and agri tech, while the Thiruvananthapuram centre under Digital University Kerala handles general purpose AI. Together, they form Kerala’s contribution to the national AI mission.
The location also matters. Thiruvananthapuram hosts Technopark, one of India’s large IT parks, and Digital University Kerala’s Technocity campus is in the same corridor. This closeness makes faculty support, student internships and industry interaction easier for young AI firms.
National AI Event Context
The CAIK launch follows the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which India hosted from 16 to 20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. It was the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South. The summit was built around three guiding ideas called Sutras. These were People, Planet and Progress, meaning AI should serve people, protect resources and support broad economic growth.
The summit drew delegations from more than 100 countries, over 20 heads of state and government, and more than 500 global AI leaders. Prime Minister Narendra Modi delivered the inaugural address on 19 February. The event also featured an AI Impact Expo with over 840 exhibitors across seven thematic zones called Chakras, covering health, agriculture, safe and trusted AI, science, inclusion, democratised AI resources and economic development.
CAIK fits into the direction set by that summit. The summit pushed for shared computing, trusted datasets, responsible AI tools and stronger participation of the Global South. State level centres such as CAIK are the delivery points for that agenda, because they give startups in states direct access to national compute, data and mentoring networks without moving to larger metro hubs.
Key Takeaways
- The Centre for AI in Keralam (CAIK) was launched on 30 September 2026 in Thiruvananthapuram under the IndiaAI Mission.
- Digital University Kerala is the implementing agency and Innovation Incubator Advisory Pvt Ltd is the industry partner for CAIK.
- CAIK started with a first cohort of 15 AI startups working in health, agri tech, legal tech, enterprise AI, industrial AI and Edge AI.
- The IndiaAI Mission was approved on 7 March 2024 with an outlay of ₹10,371.92 crore and rests on seven pillars including Compute, AIKosh and Safe and Trusted AI.
- The India AI Impact Summit 2026 was held from 16 to 20 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi around the Sutras of People, Planet and Progress.
