IITs Working on Open-Source AI Platform: IIT Kanpur Director

He highlighted the strategic importance of indigenous solutions, cautioning that foreign-made cyber security products—though widely used—grant external vendors deep access to critical systems, posing national vulnerabilities.

In an exclusive interaction with Shiksha.com, Prof. Manindra Agrawal, Director of IIT Kanpur and Chairman of C3iHub, confirmed that the Indian Institutes of Technology are working together in a consortium to develop an open-source AI platform similar to ChatGPT.

Prof. Agrawal’s disclosure came on the sidelines of C3iHub Connect 1.0, the Startup Demo Day 2025 held in Delhi, where IIT Kanpur’s cyber security innovation hub unveiled five pioneering products from its incubated startups. The event brought together leaders from government, industry, academia, and investors, underscoring India’s deep-tech momentum.

Five Groundbreaking Products Launched

The highlight of Connect 1.0 was the showcase of home-grown technologies spanning drones, surveillance, blockchain forensics, IoT compliance, and cyber threat intelligence:

Aerosys Aviation India Pvt. Ltd. launched the Eliminator Kamikaze Drone, designed for GPS-denied environments with autonomous precision strike capability.

Maraal Aerospace unveiled TEJASVAAN, a high-altitude, solar-powered unmanned aircraft with 12-hour ISR endurance.

SecureDApp introduced SecureTrace, a blockchain forensic platform to track and analyse illicit crypto transactions.

xIoTz presented its RCS framework, pre-built compliance packs aligned to global cyber security standards.

Saptang Labs launched BlackFence, a national-scale cyber threat intelligence platform to counter phishing, fraud, impersonation, and brand abuse.

These innovations, incubated at C3iHub, mark a strong step toward India’s technological sovereignty and indigenous deep-tech capability.

Cyber Security: Escalating Threats and the AI Challenge

On the broader cyber security landscape, Prof. Agrawal stressed that attacks in India more than doubled in 2023–24 compared to the previous year, fueled by increased digitisation and digital transactions.

He highlighted the strategic importance of indigenous solutions, cautioning that foreign-made cyber security products—though widely used—grant external vendors deep access to critical systems, posing national vulnerabilities.

Discussing AI’s role, he observed: “Attackers are using AI engines to launch attacks, so defense also requires AI engines to anticipate changing patterns and stop them.” He also warned about the emerging risks within AI systems themselves, noting that large language models (LLMs) can be manipulated to produce misleading answers, raising concerns around privacy, trust, and national security.

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