Narayana Murthy slams Indian firms for mislabelling 'silly, old programs' as AI: 'Has become a fashion'

Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy on Wednesday criticised the growing trend of mislabeling ordinary software as artificial intelligence (AI) in India, calling it a "fashion" that distorts the true potential of AI.

Speaking at TiE Con Mumbai 2025, Murthy expressed scepticism over AI claims made by companies, saying many so-called AI solutions are merely "silly, old programs" repackaged with buzzwords.

"I think somehow it has become a fashion in India to talk of AI for everything. I have seen several normal ordinary programs touted as AI," Murthy said.

He stressed the need for a clear distinction between AI subsets like machine learning and deep learning.

“One, machine learning, which is a large-scale correlation. Therefore, it helps you based on a large amount of data, to predict. That is simple machine learning," Murthy explained.

"The second is what is called deep learning. Deep learning imitates how the human brain works,” he added.

While machine learning primarily operates on supervised algorithms, deep learning can tackle unsupervised algorithms to create new conditions and make independent decisions, Murthy noted.

“So unsupervised data, which uses deep learning and neural networks, has much greater potential to do things that mimic human behaviour better. But what I am seeing being called AI is silly, old programs,” he said.

India's AI plan

Artificial Intelligence has become the buzzword after the emergence of players like ChatGPT maker OpenAI and China’s DeepSeek.

Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently announced India’s plans to develop its own generative AI model to compete with global giants.

The initiative will be powered by the India AI Compute Facility, which has secured 18,000 GPUs to support the development of a Large Language Model (LLM).

“With 18,000 GPUs in place, India is well on its way to building a homegrown AI model that will cater to the unique linguistic, economic, and social requirements of the nation,” Vaishnaw said at the Utkarsh Odisha Conclave.

Last week, Vaishnaw launched the IndiaAI Compute Portal, offering high-end GPUs at rates as low as ₹67 per hour to accelerate AI research and innovation.

The portal will provide over 18,000 GPUs, cloud storage, and other AI services to startups, students, researchers, academia, and government departments. Eligible AI users will receive up to 40% subsidy on AI compute services on the cloud.

"We initially targeted 10,000 GPUs, but today we have 14,000 available, with 4,000 more in the pipeline," Vaishnaw said at the anniversary celebration of the IndiaAI Mission.