US President Donald Trump has once again stirred debate in global tech circles by calling on American technology firms to stop hiring from abroad, particularly from India and China and focus on creating jobs for Americans at home.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a high-level Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit in Washington on Wednesday, Trump<\/a> denounced the \u201cglobalist mindset\u201d of tech companies such as Google and Microsoft, accusing them of exploiting American freedoms while building factories overseas and employing foreign workers. \u201cUnder President Trump, those days are over,\u201d he declared, pushing for a renewed sense of \u201cpatriotism and national loyalty\u201d in AI innovation.<\/p>\n The speech has drawn sharp reactions across the world, including in India, where a significant portion of the tech workforce is engaged with US companies either directly or through offshore delivery models.<\/p>\n To assess the implications, we spoke with Vishwas<\/a> Dass, a graduate of the Takshashila Institution’s Public Policy programme and an expert on technology and international policy.<\/p>\n Q1: Given the current AI capabilities of India and China, what are the risks and benefits of the US attempting to localise its entire AI development ecosystem, as outlined in Trump\u2019s \u201cWinning the Race<\/a>\u201d strategy?<\/p>\n According to Dass, Trump\u2019s \u201cWinning the Race\u201d strategy, which proposes complete localisation of America\u2019s AI development <\/a>pipeline, presents a double-edged sword for global innovation, especially for countries like India.<\/p>\n \u201cIf enacted, US companies would face operational and staffing disruptions. Many already rely on skilled workers from India, a country which has built a massive IT export ecosystem,\u201d Dass said. He pointed out that Indian IT firms are responding proactively, by ramping up local hiring in the US, establishing nearshore centres in Canada and Mexico, and expanding into higher-margin, AI-based services within India.<\/p>\n While Trump\u2019s push could temporarily dent remittance inflows, 36 per cent of India\u2019s $111 billion remittance income in 2022 came from countries like the US, UK and Singapore, Dass believes India\u2019s strategic moves such as Startup India and Digital India<\/a> can soften the blow over time.<\/p>\n He further noted: \u201cIndia\u2019s IT sector generated $194 billion in revenue during 2022\u201323, contributing eight per cent to the GDP and employing over 4.5 million professionals. About 70\u201375 per cent of this revenue is export-driven. The industry is resilient and increasingly future-ready.\u201d<\/p>\n Q2: Could Trump\u2019s emphasis on \u2018America First\u2019 in AI development trigger retaliatory policies or tech decoupling from China and India and what would that mean for global AI governance?<\/p>\n In response to this question,Vishwas Dass explained that Trump\u2019s “America First” approach could deepen tech decoupling trends and alter the global AI landscape<\/a> significantly.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Biden-era export restrictions already limit India\u2019s access to advanced AI chips like Nvidia\u2019s H100. Trump could double down on such policies, further delaying India\u2019s AI infrastructure goals, including the IndiaAI mission, which plans to deploy 10,000 GPUs,\u201d Dass said.<\/p>\n Citing a report from the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), Dass warned that chip restrictions could derail crucial data centre projects. He also referenced AI expert Andrew Ng\u2019s concerns that over-restriction may backfire by pushing countries like India to build independent compute ecosystems, diluting US dominance in global AI.<\/p>\n Yet, Dass highlighted India\u2019s countermeasures, including its \u20b976,000 crore Semicon India Programme and strategic partnerships under the iCET and TRUST<\/a> frameworks with the US and EU. \u201cIndia is laying down the infrastructure for AI and semiconductor self-reliance while hedging against geopolitical risk through diversified alliances,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n He further pointed to Google\u2019sAI Opportunity Agenda for India, which estimates that AI adoption could add INR 33.8 lakh crore in economic value by 2030 and help achieve a $1 trillion digital economy by 2028.<\/p>\n Q3: How practical is it for US tech giants to eliminate reliance on Indian and Chinese workers and infrastructure, considering their deep-rooted roles in data processing, AI training, and R&D?<\/p>\n Commenting on the feasibility of completely cutting ties with Indian and Chinese talent, said such a move would be \u201cextremely difficult, if not self-defeating,\u201d for US tech firms.<\/p>\n He drew insights from The Technopolitik survey <\/a>by the Takshashila Institution, which found that 21.7 per cent of respondents ranked talent as more critical than infrastructure in driving national power, while 53.4 per cent preferred open migration due to its role in attracting investment.<\/p>\n \u201cIndia is not just a low-cost service hub anymore, it is a core node in the global AI and digital services value chain,\u201d Dass asserted. \u201cA sudden decoupling would disrupt global R&D pipelines and severely affect tech diplomacy, especially given that 45.4 per cent of surveyed stakeholders see the US as India\u2019s most important technology partner.\u201d<\/p>\n