Abhishek Dixit’s concern over data leaving the country during his research at IIT Madras led him to challenge the dominant cloud-centric model of AI. He founded Cosmic Soul to develop foundational AI systems that run locally on devices, prioritising data sovereignty, privacy and affordability for governments, enterprises and institutions.
From academic concern to practical solution
While at IIT Madras, Dixit observed a widespread pattern: powerful AI services required sending documents and sensitive data to cloud servers located far from their origin, often overseas. Legal files, government records and enterprise documents were routinely transmitted to external platforms for processing. This dependency raised technical and structural issues around control, privacy and national interest.
Seeing these risks as more than just implementation details, Dixit concluded that intelligence should be distributed to where data resides, not centralised in a few global platforms. That conviction shaped his decision to build AI that operates offline, directly on local machines without routing documents, prompts or metadata to external servers.
Cosmic Soul and the offline-first architecture
Incubated at the IIT Madras Incubation Cell, Cosmic Soul is positioned as a deep-tech company focused on foundational AI rather than consumer-facing chatbots or productivity apps. From Chennai, the team develops models designed to run on-premises or on edge devices, removing the cloud from the core intelligence loop.
This architectural choice is aimed at delivering full user control over data. For public institutions and enterprises handling sensitive information, an offline-first approach changes the calculus for AI adoption: intelligence becomes a local capability governed by organisational or national policies rather than a remote service subject to external jurisdictions.
Philosophy and positioning
Dixit frames the effort as a decentralising corrective to an AI landscape dominated by a handful of global corporations. “We are not building a chatbot,” he has said, “we are bringing intelligence back to the device in your hand.” The emphasis is on empowering users with transparent, controllable systems that align with principles of sovereignty and trust.
At 23, Dixit exemplifies a generation of Indian founders who question foundational assumptions—why must intelligence be centralised, why should costs scale with capability, and why should sovereignty remain optional for technologies that increasingly affect governance, justice and economies?
Recognition and restrained growth
Cosmic Soul and Dixit’s work have received attention within India’s innovation ecosystem. He was awarded the Change Maker Award by IIT Madras for contributions to deep-tech innovation, and the company has drawn international interest at global strategy forums, reflecting the wider relevance of its approach.
Despite early recognition, Cosmic Soul has maintained a low-profile, prioritising development of enduring foundational technology over publicity. The company’s trajectory emphasises sustainable impact—building systems that are accountable, locally rooted and designed to withstand long-term operational and regulatory demands.
Wider implications
Dixit’s work highlights an ongoing shift in Indian entrepreneurship towards intent-driven innovation. By insisting that intelligence be co-located with data, Cosmic Soul foregrounds issues of privacy, national control and cost-efficiency that are increasingly central to public-sector and enterprise adoption of AI.
The question Dixit posed at IIT Madras—if the data is here, why shouldn’t the intelligence be here too?—continues to guide the company’s development and frames a broader debate about the future architecture of AI in India and beyond.
