- Artificial intelligence (AI) is making waves around the globe is stating the obvious. While the whole world is embracing the latest technological wonder with open arms, the Indian government has also recognized the importance of AI and has initiated several measures to remain relevant in the race for gaining an advantage. However, the investment on the technology front is minuscule. We are catching up with AI, but the fact that we must traverse a very long distance is undisputed. Needless to mention, India needs cutting-edge AI. It should use data as a bargaining chip for unrestricted access to US models. We have little choice. Trump admin’s recent order to block top-tier AI access to non-Americans is not surprising, but it is problematic on two fronts.
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- One, it hurts global collaboration. Two, for middle powers like India and many smaller countries, it exposes the dangers of dependence. Let’s be clear, the US leads the world in AI by an enormous margin. China is second, in what is essentially a two-horse race. Analysts say its best models are months behind America’s. But in a race that really started less than four years ago, with ChatGPT’s public release, months are a long time. For now, the US restriction applies to Anthropic’s Mythos 5 and Fable 5 models. Fable 5 was released just last week. It’s the public version of the highly capable Mythos, with stronger safeguards built in. But the US govt appears to believe these might be bypassed. If that happens, Fable 5 could be used to cause grave harm.
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- For example, it could discover vulnerabilities in a govt’s computer systems and carry out cyberattacks. The US fears its own systems, including defence systems, could come under attack. Hence, the abrupt ban. But this sets a precedent. From now on, the US and China may reserve their best AI models for their own use, on national security grounds. The rest will wait for hand-me-downs. But AI is more than software. It’s a vital tool for manufacturing, healthcare, scientific research, etc. Without the latest and best models – accessed for a price, of course – other nations can’t compete. How can they overcome this disadvantage? There are three ways. One, join hands to develop AI together. Since AI development is costly, resources – chips, data centres, energy, research – can be pooled. But wide cooperation of this nature is easier preached than practiced.
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- Of course, sovereign AI is the second way – develop your own AI ecosystem, from chips to foundational models and apps. Europe is getting serious about this. India has talked about it long enough, but cost is a hurdle. Where Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft intend to spend $650bn on AI this year, India got just 0.6% of global AI funding last years. The third way is the most pragmatic. Remain in the US camp, use its AI, but with some leverage. What does India have that the US AI giants want desperately? User data. India should make access to its data conditional. For example, with a data localization mandate, such AI setbacks don’t happen. To remain relevant, we must embrace pragmatism as our approach to overcome AI-related challenges staring us in the face.
