The White House's recent unveiling of 'Winning the AI Race: America's AI Action Plan' represents more than just another policy document—it signals a fundamental shift in how the US views artificial intelligence (AI) as both an economic engine and a geopolitical weapon.
For India, a nation with its own ambitious AI aspirations, this development presents both unprecedented opportunities and complex challenges that will shape the trajectory of global technology cooperation for decades to come.
The American plan, built around three core pillars of accelerating innovation, building AI infrastructure, and leading in international diplomacy and security, reads like a blueprint for technological dominance.
The plan identifies over 90 federal policy actions that underscore the Donald Trump administration's commitment to cementing what they term "US dominance in artificial intelligence."
This aggressive positioning comes at a critical juncture when India is simultaneously pursuing its own AI ambitions through initiatives like the National Mission on AI and the India AI programme.
Strategic Implications for India
The most immediate implication for India lies in the plan's emphasis on export controls and international partnerships. It explains that enforcement of AI compute export controls will be intensified, including location verification and international cooperation.
This tightening of technology export restrictions could significantly impact India's access to cutting-edge semiconductors and AI hardware, potentially creating bottlenecks in the country's AI infrastructure development.
However, India's strategic position as a trusted partner offers a pathway through this challenge. The existing TRUST initiative (Transforming the Relationship Utilising Strategic Technology) provides a framework for deepening cooperation between the two nations.
A central pillar of the TRUST initiative is a commitment by leaders to "work with the US and Indian private industry to put forward a US-India Roadmap on Accelerating AI Infrastructure." This collaborative approach suggests that India could benefit from America's push to export AI technology packages to allies, potentially positioning itself as a key recipient of advanced AI systems and infrastructure support.
Opportunities for Indian Companies
For India's AI ambitions, the American action plan presents a double-edged sword. On one hand, the emphasis on building data centres and AI infrastructure could create opportunities for Indian companies to participate in global supply chains.
The plan's focus on "promoting rapid buildout of data centres" aligns well with India's own digital infrastructure goals and could facilitate technology transfer and joint ventures between American and Indian firms.
On the other hand, the plan's underlying objective to maintain American technological superiority could limit India's ability to develop truly independent AI capabilities. The focus on ensuring that allies rely on American AI systems rather than developing competing alternatives could constrain India's indigenous AI development efforts.
This creates a strategic dilemma: Embrace closer cooperation with the US and risk technological dependence, or pursue greater autonomy and potentially face restricted access to cutting-edge technologies.
Navigating the US-China Tech Rivalry
The timing of America's AI Action Plan coincides with increasing global competition in AI. China recently released a global action plan for AI that called for international cooperation on tech development and regulation, highlighting the intensifying race for AI supremacy.
For India, this competition creates both pressure and opportunity. The country must navigate between the American and Chinese approaches while developing its own distinct AI strategy that serves its national interests.
This is quite a dynamic as well as tricky situation as future geopolitics around tech will be mostly felt on the AI arena and India with its strength in this field will have to navigate its optimal path to be able to harness AI for its national AI mission.
India's unique position in this landscape stems from several factors. The country possesses a massive English-speaking talent pool, a growing digital economy, and democratic institutions that align more closely with American values than Chinese alternatives. These advantages could make India an attractive partner for American companies looking to expand their AI operations while maintaining alignment with US strategic objectives.
Preserving Strategic Autonomy in India’s AI Development
However, India must be cautious about becoming overly dependent on any single technological partner. The country's experience with sanctions and technology restrictions in the past underscores the importance of maintaining strategic autonomy in critical technologies.
The challenge lies in leveraging American cooperation to accelerate India's AI development while building indigenous capabilities that ensure long-term technological sovereignty.
TRUST and even before that iCET were premised on that and thus progress was happening.
The cooperation framework outlined in recent discussions suggests promising areas for collaboration. The US and India plan to build new collaboration around AI via investments and protections involving the technology. Such partnerships could focus on research and development, talent exchange, and joint ventures that benefit both nations while avoiding excessive dependence.
A Strategic Roadmap for India in the Global AI Order
Looking ahead, India's response to America's AI Action Plan should be multifaceted.
India should actively engage with the US on AI cooperation while maintaining clear boundaries around strategic technologies critical to national security.
It should accelerate its own AI infrastructure development, potentially leveraging American partnerships to access technology while building independent capabilities.
India should diversify its technology partnerships to include other democratic allies, reducing dependence on any single source.
The broader implications extend beyond bilateral cooperation.
America's assertive AI strategy could reshape global technology governance, with implications for international standards, data flows, and AI safety protocols. India, as a major economy and democracy, has an opportunity to influence these discussions and ensure that global AI governance reflects the interests of emerging economies rather than just established powers.
The success of India's AI ambitions in this new landscape will depend on its ability to balance cooperation with autonomy, leverage partnerships without compromising sovereignty, and build capabilities that serve both national interests and global stability.
The American AI Action Plan represents both a challenge and an opportunity—the outcome will depend on how skilfully India navigates this complex terrain while staying true to its own vision of technological progress and national development.
Clearly, India has been following this position in the current tarrifs imbroglio with the US and has not succumbed to the Trump pushes and negotiating with its own own interests on top. This is what the strategy will be also in AI conversations.
(Subimal Bhattacharjee is a Visiting Fellow at Ostrom Workshop, Indiana University Bloomington, USA, and a cybersecurity specialist. This is an opinion piece. The views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for them.)