Commentary: India Is No Longer an AI Follower, but a Builder

1. The next stage in the global artificial intelligence (AI) race will not be determined solely by technical breakthroughs but by the ability to develop large-scale, reliable, and socially integrated AI ecosystems. India’s upcoming AI Impact Summit 2026, taking place from February 14-16, is positioned not just as a technology conference but as a strategic declaration that India seeks to be one of the world’s leading AI system builders, moving beyond traditional roles in the technology value chain. [para. 1]

2. From the perspective of Eastern China's Yangtze River Delta—a region deeply entrenched in digital production via manufacturing, fintech, and logistics—the focus of the AI competition has shifted from application deployment to controlling core components like compute infrastructure, data platforms, foundational models, and talent development. Notably, these are the precise areas where India now strives to make its mark internationally, signaling a shift in the global order of AI powerhouses. [para. 2]

3. India’s status in AI is now firmly established, no longer aspirational. According to Stanford University’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool 2025, India ranks third worldwide in AI competitiveness, behind only the United States and China. This high ranking is a reflection of India's rapid advancements in talent development, research, startup activity, infrastructure growth, and policy cohesion, with the AI Impact Summit 2026 aiming to further consolidate and project this advanced position globally. [para. 3]

4. Central to India’s AI push is the IndiaAI Mission, which boasts a government-approved budget exceeding 103 billion rupees ($1.2 billion) over five years. Unlike many countries’ more limited national AI plans, India’s initiative is a full-stack approach encompassing compute infrastructure, data, models, skills, startups, and governance. A highlight achievement is the significant scaling of domestic AI compute power; India has already installed 38,000 high-end GPUs—far surpassing its original target—and is making them available at significantly subsidized rates, democratizing AI access for startups and researchers. [para. 4]

5. The accessibility of such compute infrastructure is critical as it ensures that cutting-edge AI development isn’t confined to a handful of large corporations. By building this backbone, India democratizes AI innovation and strengthens the foundation for hosting globally significant events like the AI Impact Summit. [para. 5]

6. However, compute is only one part of the equation—rich data availability is equally vital. Through the AIKosh national platform, India provides more than 5,500 datasets and 251 AI models across sectors such as agriculture, healthcare, and governance. This freely accessible, policy-compliant data resource serves over 11,000 registered users, who have downloaded more than 26,000 resources, thus accelerating research and innovation. [para. 6]

7. India also invests in sovereign foundation models. As part of the IndiaAI Mission, a dozen teams are building large, multimodal models uniquely tailored to Indian languages and contexts. The June 2025 launch of BharatGen—the first locally developed, government-funded AI model supporting 22 Indian languages across text, speech, and images—underscores India’s ambition to build tools foundational for public services, not just for commercial applications. [para. 7]

8. The architecture being established ensures the AI Impact Summit is innovative, featuring intertwined platforms: a startup pitch festival (UDAAN), innovation challenges for public-interest issues, a research symposium, and an AI Expo with over 300 companies from 30+ countries—all focused on responsible, deployable AI systems. This reflects India’s comprehensive AI capacity, spanning from compute and data to applications and a skilled workforce. [para. 8]

9. Distinct from Eastern China’s tech focus, India’s model embeds AI in digital public infrastructure and large-scale service delivery. This is evident in applications ranging from agriculture (e.g., AI-powered crop advice) to healthcare (telemedicine, diagnostics) and governance (AI-driven translation, document processing). India’s deployments are designed to serve not just thousands, but hundreds of millions of people, foregrounding nationwide inclusion and development. [para. 9][para. 10]

10. India’s strategy centers on inclusivity, notably reflected in NITI Aayog’s roadmap targeting the 490 million informal workers, using AI tools such as voice interfaces and real-time translation to integrate marginalized communities into the digital economy. [para. 10]

11. The country’s talent pipeline is robust, supported by government funding for thousands of PhDs, postgraduates, undergraduates, and a network of 570 AI data labs. Industry group NASSCOM projects the national AI workforce will top 1.25 million by 2027—one of the largest globally. [para. 11]

12. Ultimately, AI Impact Summit 2026 will highlight India’s shift from adopting AI to building end-to-end AI systems, offering a transparent view into the country’s orchestration of compute, data, models, skills, and governance as a cohesive national AI ecosystem. [para. 12]

13. As global influence in AI depends increasingly on the ability to deploy, govern, and embed solutions at scale, India’s Summit demonstrates its intent to be a major global AI power into the next decade. [para. 13]

14. The article’s author, Pratik Mathur, is the consul general of India in Shanghai and a former Deputy Secretary in the office of the Indian Prime Minister, adding personal expertise to the commentary. [para. 14]