India is not second class in AI, Ashwini Vaishnav rebukes IMF chief in Davos on AI ranking
At a discussion in Davos, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rejected the notion that India belongs to the second group of AI powers, not the first. Vaishnav, who was participating in the World Economic Forum, said that like the US and China, India is also one of the first-tier AI countries.
Where is India in the AI race? The International Monetary Fund (IMF) clearly believes that India belongs to second class countries after countries like America and China. But in a discussion at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Indian IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw clearly and emphatically refuted this notion. The minister, who was speaking to a panel that also included IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, said India is an AI power just like the US and China.
During the panel discussion, Georgieva suggested that India was lagging behind leading countries like the US and China in the AI field. But Minister Vaishnav strongly opposed the classification and questioned the basis of the IMF assessment, saying it was not in line with established global standards.
Vaishnav said, “I don’t know what the IMF criteria is, but Stanford ranks India third in the world for AI preparedness. I don’t think your classification is correct.” He said India should be seen as “clearly in the first group” of AI countries.
Supporting his argument, the minister cited Stanford University’s ranking, which assesses countries based on AI penetration, preparedness and talent. According to Vaishnav, these studies place India third globally in terms of AI preparedness and penetration and second in terms of AI talent. “Stanford ranks India third in terms of AI penetration, in terms of AI preparation, and in terms of AI talent, in fact in terms of AI talent, it is second,” he said, reiterating that the “second tier” label does not reflect India’s current situation.
Highlighting India’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its AI ecosystem, India’s IT Minister also outlined the country’s comprehensive AI strategy, and emphasized that India is building capabilities across the entire value chain rather than focusing on isolated areas. He described India’s AI push as spanning “five layers in the AI architecture”, including applications, models, chips, infrastructure and energy. “We are working on all five layers, making very good progress on all five layers,” Vaishnav said.
Vaishnav’s comments come as India prepares to host the AI Summit next month, where the country is expected to showcase its progress in AI adoption, talent development and responsible innovation.
Speaking separately at Davos, the minister highlighted that India has already secured significant investment in the infrastructure needed to support AI, including data centres, compute capacity, semiconductors and power, with total investment in these sectors on track to cross $150 billion by the end of 2026.
