Meta is betting big on India's open source AI revolution. New research released today by the Linux Foundation in partnership with Meta reveals India's AI market will explode from $6 billion in 2024 to nearly $32 billion by 2031 - a five-fold jump fueled by open source innovation. The findings paint a picture of how more than 200,000 startups are using freely available AI tools to solve everything from rural healthcare access to crop disease prediction, signaling a template for AI adoption across emerging markets.
Meta just dropped a roadmap for how the developing world might win at AI - and it runs on open source code. The social media giant partnered with the Linux Foundation to study India's booming AI ecosystem, and the numbers tell a striking story about what happens when you combine free technology with 200,000 hungry startups.
India's AI market is on track to hit $32 billion by 2031, up from just $6 billion in 2024, according to the research released today. But this isn't just about market size - it's about how open source tools are letting developers build AI solutions that actually work for rural India, where 70% of the population lives and infrastructure remains patchy.
The report highlights startups like CropIn, which uses AI to help farmers monitor crops and predict weather patterns and disease outbreaks, even in areas with spotty internet connections. Medical chatbots are guiding people who can't reach a clinic. These aren't Silicon Valley moonshots - they're practical tools adapted to local languages, connectivity realities, and specific regional needs.
"India is already at the forefront of AI adoption, with its vibrant startup ecosystem creating innovative solutions tailored to the country's unique needs," Rob Sherman, Vice President of Policy at Meta, said in a statement accompanying the research. "Open source AI coupled with pro-innovation regulation can supercharge India's ambitions - empowering local talent to build, adapt, and scale technologies not just for India, but for the world."
