Congress leader Pawan Khera on Thursday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence after US AI advisor Sriram Krishnan urged allies like India to adopt American AI infrastructure.
"American AI infrastructure, Indian data. And all we get is Galgotia," posted Khera on X.
The Congress leader accused the Modi government of compromising India's strategic autonomy in the AI domain.
Khera further said, "Sriram Krishnan, Senior White House Policy Advisor on Artificial Intelligence, openly speaks about positioning India as a puppet state in the AI ecosystem. But the so-called “Digital India” government chose silence. There was no assertion of India’s technological sovereignty, no defence of India’s long-term interests."
Earlier, at the AI Summit Expo, White House advisor Krishnan said: “We want to make sure that the world uses the American AI stack...We also want the world to use our AI model...We want all our allies, including India, to leverage our AI infrastructure.”
Khera pointed out the previous warnings by the leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi regarding the risk of India becoming a "data colony" if it fails to negotiate firmly on data and digital trade.
"Rahul Gandhi articulated precisely these concerns in the Lok Sabha - about India’s data sovereignty and the protection of our national interest. Yet instead of building indigenous capacity or safeguarding Indian data, this government is exporting our digital wealth to fuel American AI dominance.
"From ceasefire to trade deal to energy to AI - we are being turned into America’s "client state". And no amount of photo-ops and pappi jhappi diplomacy can now cover up for Modi’s incompetence and strategic failures," Khera added.
India is currently hosting the India AI Impact Summit. Dignitaries and leaders from across the world are in New Delhi for this summit, with a key focus on sovereign AI.