INDIA'S AI POWER PLAY

CAN THE NATION BUILD INTELLIGENCE ON ITS OWN TERMS?

- PADMINI DHRUVARAJ

ARTIFICIAL intelligence is no longer just a tool for chatbots, coding assistants or online shopping suggestions. It has transformed into a matter of national strength, economic survival and strategic control.

The phrase increasingly heard in policy circles is sovereign AI or sovereign cloud. It may sound technical, but the idea behind it is simple: countries want control over their own artificial intelligence systems, data and computing infrastructure.

Across the world, nations are asking the same question -- who controls the intelligence that runs modern society?

What is sovereign AI?

Sovereign AI refers to artificial intelligence systems that are developed, trained and governed within a country's own legal and regulatory framework. It usually involves local data storage, domestic control of cloud infrastructure, and AI models that are subject to national laws rather than foreign oversight.

A related term -- sovereign cloud -- means that critical data and computing systems are hosted within national borders and controlled by domestic entities.

Debjani Ghosh, Distinguished Fellow at NITI Aayog, described the shift clearly. "Earlier, we used to say technology was an enabler of power. Today, AI is an axis of power," she said. In other words, AI is no longer just supporting governments and businesses. It is shaping power itself.

But sovereignty does not simply mean where servers are placed. Ghosh explained: "It's not about where data is stored. It's about who controls the data, workflows and supply chains." Control, rather than geography, is at the centre of the debate.

Why the urgency now