Beyond the AI Arms Race: India’s Moment to Forge a Third Path 

Trump’s aggressive AI deregulation prioritizes U.S. technological dominance and speed over ethical safeguards, creating a global leadership void. This accelerationist approach forces nations to choose between unfettered innovation, restrictive regulation, or state-controlled models. India, uniquely positioned by its proven Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) success like UPI, democratic values, and role hosting the pivotal 2026 AI Impact Summit, has a historic opening. It can reject this polarized landscape and champion a vital “third way” – “JanAI” – balancing ambition with responsibility.

This model must leverage India’s strengths: building ethical, inclusive AI public infrastructure, prioritizing “AI for Good,” ensuring universal literacy, and establishing multi-stakeholder governance. By decisively acting on this blueprint, India can lead the Global South and offer the world a sustainable alternative. The 2026 Summit is India’s moment to define AI’s ethical future, turning its UPI-inspired vision into global action. Success hinges on translating this potential into concrete national strategy and investment now.

Beyond the AI Arms Race: India’s Moment to Forge a Third Path 

The seismic shift in U.S. AI policy under President Trump – marked by sweeping Executive Orders prioritizing unfettered innovation, deregulation, and geopolitical dominance over ethical safeguards – isn’t just a domestic policy change. It’s a global clarion call, creating a strategic vacuum that presents India with a unique, generational opportunity: to lead the world in demonstrating a balanced, human-centric approach to AI, much like it revolutionized digital payments with UPI. 

The US Pivot: Acceleration Over Guardrails Trump’s “AI Action Plan” dismantles the Biden-era emphasis on safety, fairness, and ethical risk mitigation. Its core pillars are clear: 

• Deregulation & Speed: Removing perceived “barriers” (often ethical reviews or fairness considerations) to accelerate private sector AI development. 

• Infrastructure at Any Cost: Streamlining permits for data centers and research, prioritizing raw compute power. 

• Tech Dominance as Foreign Policy: Promoting US AI exports while tightening controls on rivals, aiming to set the de facto global standard. The accompanying orders targeting “woke AI,” slashing data center red tape, and boosting exports cement this “move fast and break things” philosophy, consciously sidelining concerns about misinformation, algorithmic bias, and societal disruption. 

The Global Dilemma: Choosing Sides in an AI Cold War? This US stance forces a stark choice upon the world: 

• The US Path: High-octane innovation, potential economic windfalls, but heightened risks of societal harm, inequality, and a race-to-the-bottom on ethics. The “trust paradox” looms large – nations racing to build potentially uncontrollable super-intelligence out of mutual distrust. 

• The European Path: Likely doubling down on its “trustworthy AI” framework (like the AI Act), potentially stifling innovation but offering stronger citizen protections. Faces pressure to dilute standards as startups eye the US. 

• The Chinese Path: Offering open-source models and initiatives like the “Shanghai Initiative,” positioning itself as inclusive, yet inextricably tied to state control and surveillance, limiting its global appeal as a democratic model. 

India’s UPI Moment: Why the “Third Way” is Possible and Necessary This divergence creates a critical opening for India, not just as an emerging AI power, but as the voice of the Global South and host of the pivotal 2026 AI Impact Summit. India possesses unique advantages: 

• Proven DPI Success: The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) demonstrated how public digital infrastructure can drive massive, inclusive innovation while safeguarding public interest. It balanced scale with security, private participation with public good. 

• Democratic Credibility: As the world’s largest democracy, India can champion governance models that respect human rights and societal values, contrasting sharply with both US commercialism and Chinese statism. 

• Global South Leadership: Developing nations face distinct AI challenges – job displacement, digital divides, unique ethical contexts. India, understanding these intimately, can advocate for solutions tailored to their needs. 

• Convening Power: The 2026 AI Impact Summit offers an unparalleled platform to set the agenda and rally global consensus. 

Forging “JanAI”: A Blueprint for the Third Way To seize this moment, India must move beyond rhetoric and articulate a concrete vision – a “JanAI” (People’s AI) framework built on DPI principles: 

• Ethical Innovation as Core: Mandate rigorous safety testing, bias audits, and transparency alongside innovation incentives. Make “AI for Good” (health, climate, education) a national mission. 

• Inclusive Public Infrastructure: Develop sovereign, secure AI compute capacity accessible to startups, researchers, and public institutions. Foster an open-data ecosystem with strong privacy safeguards (leveraging experience with DPDP Act). 

• Universal AI Literacy: Massive skilling initiatives to prepare the workforce and empower citizens to understand and engage with AI critically. Democratize access to AI tools. 

• Co-Created Governance: Establish a multi-stakeholder regulatory body involving government, industry, academia, and civil society to develop agile, principles-based regulations. Avoid top-down diktats or laissez-faire neglect. 

• Global Collaboration: Actively build partnerships with like-minded nations, particularly in the Global South, and offer replicable “JanAI” frameworks as open global public goods (OGPGs). 

The Stakes and the Opportunity Trump’s AI acceleration guarantees rapid technological advancement, but potentially at a profound social cost – eroding trust, deepening inequalities, and ignoring existential risks. The rules governing AI, the most foundational technology of this century, are being written now. They will shape everything from global power structures to individual freedoms. 

India stands at a crossroads. It can follow established paths fraught with compromise, or it can draw inspiration from its own UPI success and chart a bold “third way.” This path demands decisive action: a comprehensive national AI strategy, significant investment, and unwavering commitment to balancing ambition with responsibility. If India articulates and implements this vision – prioritizing inclusive growth, ethical foundations, and democratic governance – it won’t just gain technological leadership. It can offer the world a desperately needed alternative model, ensuring AI serves humanity, not just shareholder value or state power. The 2026 Summit in New Delhi could be the birthplace of this new consensus, but only if India seizes its UPI moment for AI today. The world is watching.