Stargate: A Wake-Up Call for India to Act Fast on AI Autonomy

US President Donald Trump's announcement of the $500-billion Stargate project to build AI infrastructure is, experts say, a wake-up call for India to urgently advance its efforts toward achieving self-reliance in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector.

- JATIN GROVER

Experts see the move by the US as a way to weaponize technology by starting to control everything—from large language models (LLMs), which are owned by US companies, and infrastructure around the same.

"For strategic autonomy, we must create our own AI doctrine and start controlling our own data strongly. Also, we must create our own domestic hardware for data centers as it's going to be very difficult to control our data," said Ajai Chowdhry, founder of HCL and chairman of EPIC Foundation & mission governing board of National Quantum Mission of India.

According to Chowdhry, the government and the industry must work together to create the strategy for AI. "What was thought of yesterday is no longer valid. It should be treated as an emergency," he added.