Bodhi Computing Acquisition Signals Ola&#8217;s Shift to RISC-V to Make Chips for Krutrim AI Cloud
After entering the AI space with Krutrim AI, Bhavish Aggarwal, the CEO of Ola Cabs, has now ventured into the AI cloud space. With Krutrim Cloud, Aggarwal wants to provide Indian developers with sophisticated AI computing infrastructure, as well as access to Krutrim AI models and a range of open-source models. This initiative resembles a marketplace concept akin to the one being developed by Tata Communications. While Tata is building its AI Cloud with NVIDIA, Aggarwal is batting for Make in India. He wants to design and build the chips that power his AI Cloud locally. While this might seem outrageously ambitious, Aggarwal has already taken the first step. Last year, he quietly acquired Bodhi Computing, a startup which builds and sells server-grade systems. Bhavish Aggarwal wants to make everything in India Sambit Sahu and Raguraman Barathalwar, both industry veterans with experience at companies like Intel, founded Bodhi Computing. While the deal’s financial details are not known, interestingly, the Bengaluru-based company was founded in March 2023 and was acquired by Ola just a few months later. Bodhi Computing was recently in the news for partnering with Toronto-based AI chip company Tenstorrent. In an interview with AIM, Tenstorrent COO Keith Witek said that he made an arrangement with Bodhi to be bought by Ola. “Bodhi Computing is now at Ola; they’ve even scaled up operations beyond what we were able to scale. Ola is developing very advanced RISC-V and AI solutions for data centres and transportation and we’re partnering to make sure that it happens,” Witek said. Recently, Tenstorrent also partnered with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) to help them build supercomputers, high-performance computing (HPC) systems, and data centre-grade products. “We’ll licence the technology, offer assistance with training and development, and collaborate on creating any necessary technology or adaptations to ensure their success,” he added. Betting on RISC-V for designing chips locally In recent times, the popularity of RISC-V, an open-source instruction set architecture utilised for crafting custom processors, has surged. It presents an alternative to ARM and Intel, both of which have their own limitations stemming from their proprietary nature. In April 2022, the Indian government initiated the Digital RISC-V programme (DIR-V), which aims to foster the development of next-generation microprocessors in India and positions the nation as a prominent global hub for RISC-V expertise. Ola will leverage Tenstorrent’s expertise in RISC-V and chip designing to develop its own chips to power its AI cloud infrastructure and other requirements.  Similar to C-DAC, Tenstorrent will also licence its technology to Ola, provide support and ensure its adoption. Aggarwal has publicly expressed his desire to design chips locally on multiple occasions last year. Furthermore, India’s efforts to foster local semiconductor production are in harmony with his strategy. Developments beyond AI Now that Aggarwal is also building AI models and cloud infrastructure, its chips could also power its electric vehicles—both two-wheelers and four-wheelers. Ola Electric is already a leader in India’s two-wheeler EV scooter market. The company is also developing four-wheeler EVs and could launch them this year. Although little information is available about Ola’s four-wheeler, the company announced last year that it will provide a range of over 500 km per charge. Aggarwal claimed it would be the “sportiest car ever built in India”. Ola’s entry into the four-wheeler EV segment could put the company in direct competition with Tesla and BYD. While Tesla could enter the market in the coming months, BYD, one of the largest EV makers in the world, is aggressively expanding in India. Moreover, Aggarwal could be spreading his wings even further. On April 1, Aggarwal unveiled an autonomous scooter on social media. Even though it was meant for laughs, Aggarwal claimed in a social media post that his team is already working on autonomous technology for two-wheelers. Given the secretive nature of his projects, there is a possibility Ola could also be working on autonomous technology for four-wheelers as well.
Ola will leverage Tenstorrent’s expertise in RISC-V and chip designing to develop its own chips to power its AI cloud infrastructure and other requirements.
Last year, Ola quietly acquired Bodhi Computing, a startup which builds and sells server-grade systems, to design chips locally.
["Ola Krutrim", "risc v"]
["Go", "risc v", "AI", "ETL", "programming_languages:R", "programming_languages:Go", "Git", "RAG", "Aim", "Ola Krutrim", "R", "startup"]
["AI", "Aim", "RAG", "R", "Go", "Git", "ETL", "startup", "programming_languages:R", "programming_languages:Go"]
I have a keen interest in creative writing and artificial intelligence. As a journalist, I deep dive into the world of technology and analyse how it’s restructuring business models and reshaping society.