India Ships Home-Grown AI Models; Japan, Thailand Tighten Up
India's IT ministry launched three home-built AI models on 3 November, with weights and licences still to be confirmed. In recent days Japan has been drafting its answer to AI-assisted hacking, and Thailand and Singapore have been writing the rules that decide who gets power for data centres.
Key takeaways
- On 3 November 2026 MeitY launched EKA-1 (Soket) and Dhīr 2B and 5B (ZenteiQ) under the IndiaAI Mission, as reported by ANI, IANS and Analytics India Magazine. No independent benchmark or licence text has been published [1][2][3].
- Japan's prime minister ordered an emergency cyber package on 26 October after a security firm linked a Chinese AI testing tool to attacks on Japanese companies. No finished package was published in the sources we found by 4 November [6][8][16].
- Thailand's data-centre committee approved a draft framework on 27 October, with applications expected in early 2027 [11][12].
- Singapore's Parliament passed its Digital Infrastructure Bill on 7 October; licensing starts at 3 megawatts of critical IT load [13][14][15].
India: three models, few facts
MeitY launched the models at an event in New Delhi on 3 November, with IT Secretary S. Krishnan present, under the IndiaAI Innovation Centre's foundation-model pillar [1][2][4]. IANS quotes him saying home-built models strengthen India's technological and strategic autonomy [2].
EKA-1, from Bengaluru's Soket, has 26.3 billion parameters and was trained on about 7.5 trillion tokens. It covers all 22 scheduled Indian languages plus English and targets maths, coding, reasoning and agentic use, with a pitch to banks and cybersecurity teams [3][4]. ANI reports that open weights are planned "within a month", with waitlist access first [1].
Dhīr 2B and 5B, from ZenteiQ, are small models for offline, on-premise and on-phone use. Analytics India Magazine says they support English and 10 Indian languages [3]. ANI reports the weights are already on AIKosh, the IndiaAI repository, and that a 9-billion-parameter model is planned for December [1]. IANS and Analytics India Magazine only say the models will be made available there, and we did not open AIKosh [2][3].
What is missing matters. No source gives licence terms for EKA-1. No source reports independent evaluations, and the performance and privacy claims come from the developers and officials [3]. Both teams received subsidised national compute [2].
There is also a scale gap. A Lok Sabha reply reported by MediaNama in April listed a 120-billion-parameter open-source model for Soket; EKA-1 is far smaller [5]. None of the launch reports says whether the larger model is still planned.
| Model | Maker | Size | Weights |
|---|---|---|---|
| EKA-1 | Soket | 26.3B, 7.5T tokens [3] | planned within a month, per ANI [1] |
| Dhīr 2B / 5B | ZenteiQ | 2B and 5B (names) | on AIKosh, per ANI only [1] |
Japan: answering AI-assisted hacking
On 20 October the information-security arm of GMO Internet Group said six servers behind attacks on Japanese firms carried Artex, a Chinese AI penetration-testing tool, according to AFP [6]. The Japanese security outlet ScanNetSecurity reports the same finding from GMO's own blog [7]. The attribution rests on GMO's own investigation. AFP says dozens of Japanese companies have disclosed breaches, and that the tool's developer says misuse was never intended, has stopped updates and closed access to its source code [6]. Neither report says the Chinese government was involved.
On 26 October Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi ordered an emergency cybersecurity package, to be compiled "by next week", AFP reported; Kyodo said by the end of next week [8][16]. GMO itself was hit, and a hacker demanded US$50 million, according to AFP [8].
Nikkei Asia reported on 31 October that the government has asked Anthropic and OpenAI for greater access to advanced models used to find cybersecurity weaknesses, and will encourage their use by essential-infrastructure operators. This is reported by Nikkei, not independently confirmed [9]. Digital Today (Korea) reports at least 81 attacks in Japan since July, citing Macnica, which we could not confirm elsewhere [10]. We found no published package by 4 November.
Southeast Asia: licences before power
Thailand. The data-centre policy committee approved a draft framework on 27 October, Reuters reported. Facilities will be sorted into seven bands by power demand, criteria go to cabinet "next week", and existing sites get about a year to comply [11]. Mingtiandi adds that applications will run through a central service at the digital ministry, with proposals selected by pitching, and that the government paused 49 approved projects in September [12]. That pause is reported by Mingtiandi alone.
Singapore. Parliament passed the Digital Infrastructure Bill on 7 October, according to W.Media and People Matters [13][14]. According to the ministry, every data centre with a critical IT load of 3 megawatts or more will need a licence, and a stricter security and resilience licence covers data centres of 10 MW or more and cloud providers earning at least S$100 million a year from Singapore users [15]. People Matters reports fines of up to S$1 million or 10% of Singapore turnover, whichever is higher [14]. Details will follow in codes of practice [13].
What to watch next
- EKA-1 weights: Soket's release and licence, due within about a month, per ANI [1].
- Independent tests: any evaluation of EKA-1 or Dhīr outside the developers.
- Japan: the published cyber package and what it asks of US model makers [8][9][16].
- Thailand: the cabinet decision on criteria and the 27 November wastewater rule, per Mingtiandi [11][12].
- Singapore: the date the Act takes effect and the codes of practice [13].
Our take
Our analysis: India's launch is real, but the claim that matters, that these models are good enough to replace foreign ones in banks and defence, has no public test behind it. Japan, Thailand and Singapore show the other half of sovereignty: the unglamorous work of incident response and power allocation. Earlier pieces on sovereign AI, agent breaches and power limits track the same shift.
FAQ
What did India release on 3 November? EKA-1 from Soket and Dhīr 2B and 5B from ZenteiQ, under MeitY's IndiaAI Mission [1][2].
Are the models open source? Dhīr is described as open source and EKA-1 as open, but no source gives licence terms [3].
Did Japan blame China for the attacks? No. A private firm linked a Chinese-made tool to the attacks; the reports do not allege state involvement [6][7].
When do Thailand's data-centre rules start? Cabinet considers the criteria first; applications are expected in early 2027 [11].
Sources
- IndiaAI Mission's three indigenous AI models target offline mobile access, secure use in critical sectors, ANI, 4 November 2026.
- IndiaAI Mission releases 2 indigenous AI foundation models, IANS, 4 November 2026.
- IndiaAI Mission Releases 3 Indigenous AI Models Developed by Soket, ZenteiQ, Analytics India Magazine, 4 November 2026.
- IndiaAI Mission Unveils EKA-1 and Dhīr Foundation Models, GKToday, 4 November 2026. Cross-check of the sizes and dates.
- Centre funds 12 AI projects for sovereign models, MediaNama, 4 April 2026. Reports a MeitY Lok Sabha reply.
- Chinese AI tool behind cyberattacks in Japan: security firm, AFP via The Korea Times, 20 October 2026.
- GMOサイバーセキュリティ byイエラエ、不正アクセス攻撃元にAI自律型ペンテストシステム「ARTEX」を確認, ScanNetSecurity, 21 October 2026. In Japanese; reports GMO's blog of 19 October.
- Japan PM vows swift response to wave of cyberattacks, AFP via The Star, 27 October 2026.
- Japan asks Anthropic, OpenAI for more access to advanced models, Nikkei Asia, 31 October 2026.
- AI hacking hits Japan as Takaichi government shifts to preemptive surveillance, Digital Today, 1 November 2026. Single source.
- Thailand sets new rules for data centres as applications surge, Reuters via The Star, 28 October 2026.
- Thailand to make data centre developers pitch for power under new rules, Mingtiandi, 29 October 2026.
- Singapore's Digital Infrastructure Bill passed in Parliament, W.Media, 8 October 2026.
- Singapore passes Digital Infrastructure Bill with fines of up to $1M for big data centres, People Matters, October 2026.
- New Digital Infrastructure Bill to strengthen the foundations for Singapore's digital economy, Ministry of Digital Development and Information, 8 September 2026. Primary.
- Japan to compile emergency cybersecurity package by end of next week: Takaichi, Kyodo via Bernama, 26 October 2026.
Disclosure: the AI system that assisted this article, Claude, is made by Anthropic, which Japan is reported to have asked for model access. AI Worldwire is independent and has no commercial relationship with the companies covered, unless stated. Research and drafting are assisted by AI; every article is reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. Subscribe to the AI Worldwire newsletter. Last updated: 4 November 2026.