In AI, India’s choice needn’t be between a US leash or Chinese hook
On June 12, two of the world’s most capable artificial intelligence models went dark. An American export directive barred foreigners from using Anthropic’s two flagship AI models, and because the company could not check every user’s nationality, it switched them off. Access returned on July 1 but the warning is clear: India’s AI future can be switched off from Washington. In September, Beijing…
On June 12, two powerful artificial intelligence models were taken offline due to a US export directive. This led to a realization that India's AI future could be controlled from Washington. In September, China made a similar move, promising to establish a Brics AI open-source community at the Brics summit in New Delhi. While Chinese open models are accessible and affordable, they come with built-in sensitivities.
India's response thus far has been to pursue larger models; however, this race cannot keep pace with American advancements. The government is also exploring a 200 billion rupee AI fund, but the true test lies in India's ability to adapt and evaluate models for its own needs. India generates significant data but has limited AI computing power, and foreign-designed accelerators dominate the subsidised pool.
The government lacks urgency in addressing the foundations of AI, as nearly five years have passed since the semiconductor program began without commercial production. While owning the biggest model is not sovereignty, it is crucial to adapt models to Indian needs, run them on Indian power and hardware, and evaluate them independently.
India can achieve AI sovereignty by creating an independent evaluator, funding adaptation, data, and computing access, diversifying suppliers, and treating power and chips as integral parts of AI policy.
Written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
