The Uttar Pradesh government has announced its intention to transform major cities into hubs for Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information Technology (IT). This decision comes in response to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent statement during his visit to the United States, where he highlighted the significant advancements in AI and the leading roles of both India and the US in this field. The cities selected for the AI and IT transformation plan are Lucknow, Kanpur, Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida), Varanasi, and Prayagraj (Allahabad). Lucknow has been designated as India's first AI City as part of the comprehensive blueprint to develop these five cities into future IT and IT Enabled Services (ITeS) hubs. Nand Gopal Gupta 'Nandi,' the Minister of UP Industrial Development, emphasized that technology and tech leadership will shape the future world, and Uttar Pradesh has taken a significant leap towards becoming a major AI hub at both the national and global levels. He stated, Being a leader in AI means being a leader in the world, and our government, with its 'double engine,' is fully committed to leading the technological revolution worldwide. The objective of the proposed AI and IT sector development in these five cities is to expedite Uttar Pradesh's journey towards becoming a trillion-dollar economy. Recently, officials presented a detailed roadmap to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who promptly assigned a high-level team led by the chief secretary to promptly implement the proposal. To spearhead the development of the AI City in Lucknow, a 40-acre plot of land near the Lucknow airport, adjacent to the Lucknow-Kanpur highway, has been identified. The Lucknow AI hub project aims to provide a comprehensive range of services to investors and companies, including AI start-ups, data centres, data analytics, AI-based training, and data forensics. Uttar Pradesh has formed partnerships with esteemed institutions such as the Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur, Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, and APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University to initiate various knowledge-based initiatives and projects. Also read: Telangana unveils plans to expand Hyderabad Metro network MMRDA eases traffic by removing 84 km barricades from Mumbai Metro