White House Hails India as Tech Powerhouse, Key to Global AI Strategy

"India is a technology powerhouse," Michael Kratsios, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, said told Fox News in an interview.

"It graduates an incredible number of engineers, has deep domestic talent, and is building strong products and applications," said the top American scientific advisor who recently returned from India after attending the India AI Impact Summit.

Kratsios placed India within a broader US strategy to expand what he described as "real AI sovereignty" among partner nations.

"The divergence in AI adoption between developed and developing countries is growing every day," he said. "We see the world in two broad categories, and different tools are needed for each."

He warned that developing countries risk "falling behind at a fundamental inflection point" unless they prioritise AI adoption in sectors delivering "concrete benefits: healthcare, education, energy infrastructure, agriculture, and citizen-facing government services."

The White House is promoting the American AI Exports Program as the vehicle for that push.

"For too long, countries seeking development support faced a false choice," Kratsios said. "We believe the American AI Exports Program offers a different path: trusted best-in-class technology, financing to overcome adoption barriers, and deployment support."

He described "real AI sovereignty" as "owning and using best-in-class technology for the benefit of your people, and charting your national destiny in the midst of global transformations."

The strategy, he said, is not about isolation or control. "We do not see this as being about any one competitor," Kratsios said. "This is about the fact that the United States has the best AI technology in the world, and many countries want it in their ecosystems."

On standards, he said the next phase of innovation "will center on agents," adding: "How those agents communicate and orchestrate their actions would benefit greatly from unified standards. NIST has launched an initiative to develop standards for agents, so these systems can interoperate securely and effectively."

Financing remains a key constraint for many emerging economies. "The AI stack is expensive," Kratsios said, pointing to "data centers, semiconductors, power generation" as essential physical inputs.

He said Washington is mobilising support through the US International Development Finance Corporation, the Export Import Bank and other agencies.

He also announced a US Tech Corps. "These will be like Peace Corps volunteers, except the focus is on technology," he said. "We are looking for people with technical backgrounds who want to help implement AI solutions."

Kratsios noted that India has "long been a strong partner in how the United States shares technology abroad," and said American hyperscalers have data centres and research operations in the country, helping deepen integration within the American AI stack.

- IANS