Just weeks after India hosted the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, a remark made at the Raisina Dialogue brought the larger geopolitical question into sharper focus. US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau, speaking during the dialogue in March, issued a candid warning, “India should understand that we are not going to make the same mistakes with India that we made with China 20 years ago… then the next thing we know, you are beating us in a lot of commercial things.” The remark was made in the context of ongoing trade negotiations between Washington and New Delhi. However, it also reflects a broader strategic concern in the United States regarding India’s technological and economic rise.
This concern was also visible at the India AI Impact Summit, where discussions extended beyond investments and announcements to a deeper question of who will control the architecture of the AI-driven future.
DATA SOVEREIGNTY AND THE BIGGER QUESTIONS AROUND IT
This comes at a time when India is attempting to strengthen its position in the evolving geopolitical landscape. The more consequential debate is shifting toward data sovereignty and who ultimately controls the AI future.
The discussion sharpened after Senior White House AI Policy Advisor Sriram Krishnan signalled Washington’s intent for allies, including India, to build on the American AI stack. “We want to make sure that the world uses the American AI stack…We also want the world to use our AI model…We want all our allies, including India, to leverage our AI infrastructure.” he said, referring to US chips, models and applications.
While this may appear to be a routine strategic pitch, the implications are significant. Relying on the US AI stack would mean depending on companies such as Nvidia for critical chips and on American AI model makers such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and others for core intelligence layers. As the future becomes increasingly digital, this could translate into growing American influence over the technologies that shape everyday life.
At the same time, India is signalling a more cautious and balanced approach. Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated this position at the summit, saying, “We must give AI the open sky, but keep the command in our hands. Just like GPS, it suggests the route, but the final decision of direction is ours.”
This may not represent a direct contest between nations, but the choices being made now will play an important role in determining which countries gain strategic advantage in the emerging AI-driven world order.
THE IMPORTANCE OF AI SOVEREIGNTY AND COLLABORATIVE AI
In the world we live in, the era of Web 2.0 is dominated by US giants such as Meta, X, YouTube, and Facebook, whose platforms have become the bedrock of news consumption for the masses. Their algorithms increasingly decide what users see and how information is consumed. The Reuters Institute’s Digital News Report 2024 found that nearly 71 percent of Indians prefer online news, with 49 percent relying on social media and 79 percent using mobile phones.
A policy paper by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) notes that 91 percent of Gen Z respondents believe misinformation can influence voting, while 80 percent admit their views have shifted due to misleading content. The risks of platform power have been acknowledged even at the top. In 2024, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said US officials had “repeatedly pressured” Facebook to take down certain COVID-19 content and admitted, “I believe the government pressure was wrong and I regret that we were not more outspoken about it.” As generative AI advances, the potential to shape public perception, and even electoral outcomes, will only grow.
Taken together, these trends underline why questions of technological control and data sovereignty are no longer abstract policy debates but central to how information, democracy, and digital power will be shaped in the years ahead.
WHAT IS INDIA DOING
India is attempting to build strategic capacity rather than remain dependent. Sarvam AI co-founder Vivek Raghavan warned that India must develop its own foundational AI stack to avoid becoming a “digital colony.” Anchoring this push is the ₹10,300 crore IndiaAI Mission, aimed at strengthening computing infrastructure, data, skilling, and governance frameworks.
Policy support is also expanding. The Union Budget 2026–27 announced a tax holiday till 2047 for eligible foreign cloud providers operating India-based data centres, seeking to attract large-scale digital infrastructure. Globally, with data centre investments crossing 270 billion dollars in 2025, competition is intensifying. India’s momentum is reflected in Stanford’s Global AI Vibrancy Index, where the country ranks third, behind the United States and China.
TO CONCLUDE
India’s AI moment is real, but the path ahead is strategic, not automatic. The country is laying early foundations across infrastructure, policy, and talent. Whether this translates into genuine technological autonomy or deeper external dependence will depend on how decisively India executes in the coming decade.
