Google to set up India-US undersea cable for AI

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Feb 19, 2026: Google on Wednesday announced plans to develop strategic fibre-optic routes linking the United States, India and several locations across the Southern Hemisphere to strengthen networks powering artificial intelligence (AI).

The tech major said it will enhance AI infrastructure under a new initiative titled “America-India Connect”.

Addressing an event in the capital, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said, “Last year, we announced a $15 billion AI hub in Vizag. This hub will house gigawatt-scale computing capacity and a new international subsea cable gateway. Once completed, it will generate jobs and bring the benefits of cutting-edge AI to people and businesses across India.”

Pichai is in New Delhi to attend the India AI Impact Summit, which will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday. The expo and related events began on February 16.

Under the America-India Connect initiative, Google will establish a new international subsea gateway in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), lay three new subsea cable routes connecting India to Singapore, South Africa and Australia, and build four strategic fibre-optic routes to enhance network resilience and capacity between the US, India and multiple locations south of the equator.

The company also plans to create a direct fibre-optic link between Vizag and Chennai on India’s east coast extending to South Africa. Combined with the Equiano and Nuvem subsea cable systems, this will form a redundant, high-capacity route connecting the American east coast around Africa to Vizag.

Additionally, Google said it will establish a direct path between Vizag and Singapore. When integrated with the Bosun and Tabua subsea cable systems, this will create a South Pacific corridor linking the American west coast through Australia to Vizag.

The company noted that these investments will position Vizag as a key international subsea gateway, adding critical diversity beyond existing cable landings in Mumbai and Chennai. For a country of over one billion people, the move is expected to strengthen the resilience of India’s digital backbone and enhance economic security.

On the sidelines of the summit, Pichai also met Prime Minister Modi.

“It was a delight to meet Mr Sundar Pichai on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. We discussed India’s progress in AI and how Google can collaborate with our talented students and professionals in this field,” Modi posted on X.

It was a delight to meet Mr. Sundar Pichai on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. Talked about the work India is doing in AI and how Google can work with our talented students and professionals in this field.@sundarpichai pic.twitter.com/lUCzOn0LSh

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) February 18, 2026

In October last year, Google announced plans to invest $15 billion over five years to establish a major AI data centre in Vizag, Andhra Pradesh — one of the largest IT infrastructure investments in India.

Pichai further unveiled a $30 million grant to support AI research in India. The company will launch an AI for Science Impact Challenge to promote work in areas such as quantum computing and climate modelling, to be implemented through Google.org.

Google also announced a partnership with the government’s ‘Karma Yogi Bharat’ initiative to train two crore public servants across 800 districts in 18 languages. Generative AI support will also be extended to over 10,000 Atal Tinkering Labs, reaching an estimated 1.1 crore students, the company said.