IndiaAI & AYUSH join hands to build AI tools for traditional healthcare research

New Delhi: Ancient wisdom is getting a digital upgrade. IndiaAI and the Ministry of AYUSH have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to bring artificial intelligence into India’s traditional medicine ecosystem, with a focus on research, innovation and responsible use of health data.

The partnership will see eligible AYUSH health research artefacts integrated into AIKosh, India’s sovereign AI repository, enabling researchers, startups and academic institutions to develop AI-driven healthcare solutions based on traditional medicine.

The MoU was signed by IndiaAI, chief operating officer and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, joint secretary, Sudeep Srivastava, and Ministry of AYUSH, joint secretary and chief vigilance officer, Kavita Jain, in the presence of senior officials from both organisations.

Under the agreement, the Ministry of AYUSH will contribute eligible anonymised health research artefacts, including datasets, metadata, AI models, toolkits and relevant use cases, to AIKosh. The resources will be made available in line with applicable data-sharing policies and regulatory requirements.

The collaboration will also allow eligible stakeholders from the AYUSH ecosystem to access the IndiaAI Compute infrastructure, supporting advanced AI research and the development of scalable healthcare applications.

IndiaAI, chief operating officer and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, joint secretary, Sudeep Srivastava said the agreement would enrich AIKosh with datasets from India’s traditional healthcare ecosystem and bring together modern technology with the country’s ancient medical knowledge to support researchers and practitioners.

Ministry of AYUSH, joint secretary and chief vigilance officer, Kavita Jain said integrating artificial intelligence with AYUSH would open new opportunities for evidence-based research, knowledge management and innovation.

She added that the collaboration would strengthen AI applications across research, medicinal plants, drug administration and capacity building, making the AYUSH ecosystem more technology-driven and future-ready.

The agreement will initially remain in force for two years, with an option for automatic renewal through mutual consent. The ministries clarified that the partnership does not involve any financial commitment or liability for either party.

By combining AIKosh’s data repository and computing infrastructure with the Ministry of AYUSH’s research ecosystem, the initiative aims to accelerate responsible AI innovation while expanding the use of traditional medicine research in India’s evolving digital healthcare landscape.