The AI stack will test America's infotech partnership with India

Cooperation in artificial intelligence is vital for both countries to shape a tech-determined future

- VIVAN SHARAN

US President Donald Trump's H-IB visa restrictions could hobble both the Indian and American technology industries, which are in the midst of an artificial intelligence (AI)-led disruption.

The regime creates a $100,000 entry barrier for each new foreign worker in information technology (IT) services and distorts the American labour market, which otherwise benefits from a talent mop-up that is the envy of the world.

Hopes for course correction lie in a substantive trade deal, but this will not materialize overnight. Meanwhile, the two countries must recognize that AI is narrowing the window to turn their IT ties into a lasting strategic advantage.

The US is the largest market for Indian IT service exports and India is the fastest-growing digital market for American technology companies. Together, they form the backbone of the global services economy, which now defines competitiveness even in goods markets. A phone or a car today is judged as much by its software and design as by its physical components.

AI applications depend on continuous human mediation and their success rests on trust. This is why the US-India services relationship has endured. American firms rely on Indian IT providers because of their service ethic and talent base. India, in turn, depends on US digital infrastructure like its cloud platforms as the rails of its digital economy. This reciprocal confidence is the quiet but powerful engine of the partnership and it stands in sharp contrast with the goods markets, where both are far more reliant on China.