Why AI could matter more to India than to U.S. & China | AI future explained

India is at a technological crossroads, again. In the early 2000s, the country powered the IT revolution not by building Silicon Valley, but by staffing it. This time, the stakes are much higher. Artificial Intelligence is not just another tech wave, it is a structural shift that could add up to $4 trillion annually to the global economy. But here’s the real question: will India shape this revolution, or simply serve it? As New Delhi hosts Asia’s first AI Impact Summit, the country finds itself in a rare geopolitical sweet spot, trusted by the West, engaged with the Global South, and not locked into the U.S.-China binary. With over 900 million internet users, dirt-cheap data, a booming startup ecosystem, and 100 million weekly ChatGPT users, India has scale. It has talent. It has digital public infrastructure. But it also has rising youth unemployment and 60% of its workforce in low-productivity services, sectors most vulnerable to AI disruption. So what is India’s real strategy? Can it break the AI duopoly of Washington and Beijing? Or will it once again export talent instead of building power at home?