New Delhi, Jan 22 (IANS ) The $500 billion Stargate Project, a brainchild of OpenAI, Softbank, Oracle and others – presents a golden opportunity for India, to accelerate its AI ambitions by deepening partnerships with the US, industry experts said on Wednesday.
This can be achieved by leveraging India’s role in the Critical and Emerging Technology (iCET) agreement between the two nations and Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) - co-developing cutting-edge technologies and scaling its domestic capabilities.
“Proactive diplomacy, leveraging India’s role in iCET and IPEF, strategic investments, and collaborative approaches will be key to ensuring that India not only benefits from the global advancements in AI but also establishes itself as a formidable player in the international AI landscape,” said Ashok Chandak, President of India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA).
While the primary objective Stargate Project is to solidify the US’ leadership in the AI ecosystem, it also presents opportunities for India to leverage.
Major companies supporting this initiative — such as Nvidia, Arm, Microsoft, Softbank, Oracle and OpenAI — already have a significant presence in India and actively utilise Indian talent.
“This creates avenues for Indian professionals to gain exposure and contribute to such a monumental project, further enhancing their expertise in advanced AI technologies,” said Chandak.
There is cautious optimism that the Trump administration might consider industry feedback during the 120-day review period, and adopt a more relaxed stance on AI export controls, especially toward India and other strategic partners.
According to Dr Ajai Chowdhry, founder of HCL and chairman of the National Quantum Mission, this initiative shows serious intent to take a strong control of AI, in addition to having all the large language models (LLMs) owned by the US.
“For strategic autonomy, we must create our own AI doctrine and start controlling our own data strongly. Also, we must create our own domestic hardware for data centres as it is going to be very difficult to control our data,” said Chowdhry.
The government and the industry must work together to create a fresh strategy for AI, he added.
The country launched the IndiaAI mission last year to enhance AI-related developments in the country. The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved an allocation of over Rs 10,300 crore for the IndiaAI Mission, marking a significant step towards bolstering the AI ecosystem in the country.
According to the government, nearly 8.6 lakh candidates have enrolled in IndiaAI ‘Future Skills’ initiative, developed in collaboration with industry partners, to provide training aligned with the latest requirements.
Courtesy Media Group: IANS