Recent Current Affairs related to AI

The National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology (NIELIT), under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), has launched a national-level hackathon named “Cyber Kushti 2026”. The hackathon focuses on the fields of cybersecurity and AI.

The initiative was introduced during the 3rd National Conference on Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Intelligence (NCCDFI 2026) held at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in New Delhi.

OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT for Teens, a specialized version featuring parental controls and enhanced security measures to address risks associated with AI chatbots.

The platform automatically activates when a user is estimated to be under 18 years of age (or self-identifies their age as between 13 and 17 years).

Bengaluru-based Razorpay, a payments technology company, has launched an AI model named “Vulcan” to improve payment success rates and detect fraudulent activities. The model has been trained on a dataset of 4 billion transactions to identify patterns and mitigate risks.

The SPIRE Lab of the IISc Bengaluru, in collaboration with the AI and Robotics Technology Park (ARTPARK) and Google, has launched an open-source speech AI model named SraVaani.

The model is capable of recognizing 65 Indian languages and dialects. It has been released under a permissive Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) licence on the Hugging Face platform.

PM Narendra Modi has inaugurated ‘Param Pragya’, an AI-enabled high-performance supercomputing facility at the Sonipat (Haryana) campus of the IIT Delhi. The inauguration took place during the 57th convocation of IIT Delhi, where he attended as the Chief Guest.

International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation and Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) Bengaluru have inaugurated the ‘IBM-MIT AI Lab-MAHE’ at the Bengaluru campus.

Additionally, IBM Corporation and CHRIST University have announced the establishment of the ‘IBM Innovation Center for AI’ to promote AI education, research, and innovation.

Indian researchers led by Dr Shubhasis Haldar have developed a deep-learning AI framework named “ACSCeND” to identify hidden cancer stem-like cells (CSCs).

The framework was developed through a collaboration between the SN Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences (SNBNCBS) and Ashoka University.

The Digital India BHASHINI Division (DIBD) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) with NITI Aayog to advance multilingual, voice-first AI solutions under the 'BHASHINI for Seva/Sanchalan' initiative.

Union Minister Giriraj Singh has inaugurated the Centre of Excellence for Handloom Technology (CoE-HT) at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi.

During the event, 5 flagship initiatives were launched: 'Handloom 4.0 Mobile App', 'Handloom e-Vidya', 'HandloomX', 'Kalagriha Handloom Studio' (GenZ Design Studio), and 'Threads of Valour'.

The IIT Gandhinagar in Gujarat has signed an MoU with the Indian Artificial Intelligence Research Organisation (IAIRO) to promote research, education, innovation, and talent development in the field of AI.

Alibaba has unveiled its largest and most capable AI model named "Qwen3.8-Max". The model features 2.4 trillion parameters. It is positioned behind Moonshot AI's Kimi K3, which comprises 2.8 trillion parameters.

DeepSeek has launched its 'V4-Flash model', claimed to be the most cost-effective AI model globally.

The Application Programming Interface (API) of the model is priced at $0.14 per million input tokens and $0.28 per million output tokens.

The 2nd meeting of the BRICS Science Academies Forum 2026 was held at the IIT Hyderabad under the theme "Harnessing Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Development and Strengthening Global South Cooperation".

Additionally, India hosted the BRICS Ministers of Interior Meeting in New Delhi.

The Odisha government has signed an MoU with HCL Technologies (HCLTech) and Sarvam AI to set up the first AI data centre of the state.

The facility will be located at the Odisha Sovereign AI Park in Bhubaneswar, with a total project outlay of ₹14,257 crore.

Researchers from the NASA have proposed an AI mission concept named "Planetary Rings Autonomous EXploration with In-situ Sampling (PRAXIS)". It has been proposed under Phase I of the NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) 2026 program.

The mission aims to enable the first-ever direct collection and analysis of particles from Saturn's rings. It is designed to deliver direct observations of millimetre- to centimetre-sized ring particles, addressing a key priority identified in planetary science decadal surveys. The project is led by Dr. B Marco Quadrelli.

The Bengaluru-based Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has signed an academic collaboration agreement with Google LLC to provide AI and other industry-relevant skill modules to its students and faculty.

Microsoft India, in collaboration with the Foundation for Innovation and Technology Transfer (FITT) at the IIT Delhi, has launched UNNATI AI 2.0.

It is the second phase of the flagship Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of Microsoft India, with the name signifying 'Unnati se Pragati' (progress through growth). The program aims to democratise access to AI technologies to strengthen the AI talent pipeline in India, with a special focus on fostering startups and innovation in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.

Nvidia, in collaboration with Microsoft, SpaceX, Palantir, and other technology companies, has launched an AI safety initiative named the 'Open Secure AI Alliance'.

The primary objective of this alliance is to develop and share open-source AI security tools. This initiative was launched following a recent disclosure by OpenAI that an autonomous agent had compromised the infrastructure of the startup Hugging Face.

The Maharashtra government has approved the establishment of the first AI-powered bird sanctuary in India, named 'Bhandup Bird Park', at the Thane Creek Flamingo Sanctuary (TCFS) in Mumbai.

The project, estimated to cost ₹45 crore, will be developed across 20.09 hectares along the Thane Creek shoreline. The park will feature an AI surveillance system with a 1.5-km radius to track bird migration and identify species in real-time.

The World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization (WAICO) has been officially launched in Shanghai, China. Proposed by China, it is an intergovernmental body designed to foster global AI cooperation, develop civilian AI regulations, and bridge the technological compute divide.

It is headquartered in Shanghai. A total of 29 countries, including Russia, Pakistan, Brazil, South Africa, Indonesia, and Malaysia, have signed its founding convention.