Diffusion Ranks Higher Than Invention

Being the inventor of AI isn't essential; what matters more is how effectively a country adopts, adapts, and applies it across sectors

- RISHI RAJ [e-mail]

WHY NATIONS RISE and decline has been a question of scholarly analysis for long, and various academics have tried to examine and even offer prescriptive guidelines from time to time. However, as is the nature of history, it's difficult to proffer any fixed reason or explanation as different factors have led to the rise and fall of nations over centuries.

In the current era, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as the newest benchmark for national power. Once, it was naval superiority, then industrial prowess and nuclear capabilities. Today, AI is increasingly viewed as the key enabler of economic growth, military innovation, and societal transformation. The US and China have for long positioned themselves at the heart of this fierce technological competition. However, India, too, has entered the race recently and is intent on carving its own path in the global race.

To reduce dependency on foreign AI systems and assert digital sovereignty, the government some time back selected Sarvam AI as the lead firm to build India's own foundational large language model. Recently, three other firms, Soket AI, Gan AI, and Gnani AI, have been chosen to join the effort. The thinking is that control over core technologies is equivalent to control over economic and strategic autonomy.

In his seminal work