India Must Develop Domestic AI Models to Avoid Foreign Dependence

Vishal Sikka, founder and CEO of Vianai Systems, said India is at risk if it continues to rely on foreign artificial-intelligence models.

This reliance creates a critical vulnerability for the nation's digital infrastructure. Dependence on overseas large-language models and data-center services could expose India to geopolitical restrictions, export-control limits, and potential AI service blackouts [3, 5].

Sikka said India should build its own domestic foundation-model ecosystem to ensure technological sovereignty [1, 2]. He said the current AI stack in India is largely composed of technologies the country does not control ^[5]. This lack of ownership leaves the domestic economy susceptible to the decisions of foreign corporations and governments.

To address these gaps, there is a proposed annual fund of $5 billion ^[6] to support the development of sovereign AI within India. Such a fund would aim to catalyze the creation of local models that can operate independently of foreign cloud providers and software licenses.

Sikka said that building a domestic ecosystem is not merely a matter of economic competitiveness but of national security. Without its own foundation models, India remains dependent on a stack that can be throttled or revoked based on external political climates [3, 5].

The push for sovereign AI follows broader global trends where nations seek to reduce their reliance on a small number of US-based AI providers. By developing local models, India could better tailor AI to its specific linguistic and cultural needs, while securing its data against external interference [1, 2].