Indigenous AI | A case for aatmanirbhar AI - by Jayant Sinha

Dependence on foreign AI models and compute could leave India vulnerable to decisions made in distant capitals. We need an intelligence infrastructure of our own(Illustration by Nilanjan Das/AI)ISSUE DATE: Oct 19, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 22:03 IST India has entered the AI age. Within a decade, AI systems will write much of our software, run our factories and hospitals, deliver public services and defend our networks. The question is who will control those systems. If India relies on AI systems owned and governed in the United States or China, it will be a customer in the AI age, paying a toll on every unit of intelligence it consumes. That is digital colonisation and it is the central strategic danger facing us.