The article argues that India is emerging as a global leader in artificial intelligence by leveraging its digital infrastructure, large talent pool, and strategic positioning in global AI governance. It highlights India’s role as Lead Chair of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) and its hosting of the Global India AI Summit in July 2024, where key pillars of AI ecosystem building—such as compute capacity, data sets, application development, startup financing and safe + trustworthy AI—were central themes.
The piece points out that India’s strength lies not just in being a consumer of AI but in shaping the infrastructure and policy frameworks of the AI age. By aligning public-digital infrastructure (like identity systems, payments, data platforms) with AI ambitions, India has a potential edge in building scalable, inclusive AI solutions that serve both domestic needs and global models. The article suggests this could place India at the forefront of AI innovation, not just as a service centre but as an infrastructure and policy powerhouse.
However, the article also paints a cautious note: being a “global leader” in AI does not mean India is unchallenged or without gaps. Challenges include building sovereign compute & hardware capacity (GPUs, data centres), increasing private-sector investment in foundational research and development, fostering an ecosystem of deep tech rather than just services, and ensuring ethical, inclusive deployment. Without closing these gaps, India may lead in certain segments but risk falling behind in others.
In conclusion, the article frames India’s AI opportunity as a strategic inflection point: if India can scale its digital public infrastructure into a foundation for AI, align governance with innovation and build global partnerships, it could secure a leadership role in the global AI order. The article invites stakeholders—government, industry and academia—to act on this moment and translate potential into global outcomes.
