India is stepping up efforts to secure access to advanced AI chips as the US transitions from former US President Joe Biden to President Donald Trump, seeking revisions to restrictive export policies.
These restrictions, introduced under the Biden administration, limited the export of GPUs and TPUs, which are essential components for AI development and large-scale data processing.
On his first day back in office, Trump launched The Stargate Project, a $3 trillion initiative to cement the US’ AI dominance and counter China’s rise.
“This shows serious intent to take strong control of AI…in addition to having all the LLMs owned by the US. For strategic autonomy, we must create our own AI doctrine and start controlling our own data strongly,” said HCL co-founder Ajai Chowdhry.
Ashok Chandak, president of the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), highlighted the project’s relevance to India, and said: “Major companies supporting this initiative, such as NVIDIA, Arm, Microsoft, SoftBank, Oracle, and OpenAI, already have a significant presence in India and actively utilise Indian talent. This creates avenues for Indian professionals to gain exposure and contribute to such a monumental project, further enhancing their expertise in advanced AI technologies.”
The Stargate Project, a $500 billion AI infrastructure initiative, is backed by tech titans like Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. For India, this moment presents an opportunity to double down its AI ambitions by deepening partnerships with the US. “Learning from the Stargate Project, India could conceptualise and implement its own large-scale initiatives to strengthen its AI ecosystem.”
Impact of Restricted GPU Access on India’s AI Ambitions
Earlier this month, the Biden administration’s regulatory framework tiered access to advanced AI technologies based on strategic alliances. While 18 allies, including Germany, Japan, and South Korea, gained unrestricted access, India was placed in the third tier, requiring explicit licences for high-value GPU imports. China, Russia, and North Korea faced complete bans.
Restricted access to GPUs and TPUs has created hurdles for India’s ambitions to emerge as a global AI leader. These chips are vital for developing AI infrastructure across sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, defence, and education.
“Large-scale AI data centres, requiring several hundred thousand GPUs, may be delayed or scaled down, putting global companies at a competitive advantage over Indian enterprises. However, small-scale setups could still enable experimentation, innovation, and restricted model development,” Chandak said.
India’s National AI Mission, supported by a ₹10,000 crore investment, plans to deploy over 10,000 GPUs through public-private partnerships. However, the uncertainty surrounding export licenses and trade negotiations threatens to delay these efforts. Chandak noted that export controls may have minimal short-term impact on India but could hinder its AI hardware ambitions due to licensing uncertainties and trade negotiations.
On the other hand, the restrictions are also seen as a catalyst for self-reliance. Chowdhry pointed out that past sanctions on space and nuclear technologies spurred domestic innovation, suggesting that the current challenges could have a similar effect on AI hardware development. By leveraging its talent pool in semiconductor design, India has an opportunity to build a strong foundation for self-sustained AI growth.
Will Trump Give More Compute to India?
India’s strategic partnership with the US offers a pathway to addressing these challenges, especially with a new administration in power.
“A large number of chips for NVIDIA and AMD are developed in India by their GCCs,” Chowdhry said in reference to India’s engineering strength. India’s significant contributions to global semiconductor development reflect its value as a partner to the US.
India’s participation in the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD) and its growing bilateral trade relations further enhance its leverage in these negotiations.
“India talent can help the US to fast track the AI innovations and also create a China Plus One (C+1) factor for market access or business potential,” added Chandak.
