Special report
Foreword: Building the Technology Foundation for the U.S.-India Partnership
Now is the moment to anchor the U.S.–India partnership in the artificial intelligence (AI) and emerging technology fields that will shape the future of the world. For both nations, leadership in AI and emerging technologies will determine not only domestic prosperity and resilience, but also whose values and systems define the global digital order. Acting together strengthens both nations’ autonomy by reinforcing our respective core strengths, while closing our capability gaps. Establishing this foundation of bilateral partnership in AI and emerging technologies will ensure our two nations will be at the forefront of forging a new era of global security and prosperity for the American and Indian peoples.
The strategic logic for both countries is clear. “[T]he shape of [the] future looks uncertain, and techno-authoritarians are on the march. It will take the collective strength of the democracies anchoring the Indo-Pacific region to chart a different course.” The United States remains the world’s unmatched leader in frontier AI research, advanced semiconductor design, foundational models, and trusted compute. India brings STEM talent at scale, vast data reserves to train future AI models, untapped demand from a rapidly growing market, and real-world deployment environments, along with a proven ability to operationalize technology at population level. U.S. innovation gains speed, scale, and testing environments with robust digital public infrastructure, while India accelerates access to secure compute, advanced R&D, and globally interoperable platforms. The strengths of one nation directly complement and de-risk the priorities of the other. Together, each of our two nations can form an AI ecosystem that is more resilient and innovative than either could achieve alone.
A coordinated approach to AI applications, infrastructure, talent, and policy should form the foundations of bilateral cooperation. Joint research, development, and deployment can accelerate progress across shared priority domains—including health care, education, cybersecurity, defense, agriculture, disaster response, and industrial automation—while ensuring solutions are designed, tested, and governed collaboratively. India’s rapidly growing compute and data infrastructure needs create opportunities for co-investment, co-design, and workforce development that strengthen India’s domestic AI ecosystem and manufacturing base, while enabling the United States to diversify supply chains, deepen talent integration, and build resilient digital pathways across the Indo-Pacific.
Ambitious national initiatives underway in both countries reinforced this collaboration opportunity. The United States has reaffirmed its commitment to global AI leadership through President Trump’s AI Action Plan, the TRUST and COMPACT initiatives to accelerate AI infrastructure deployment in India, and executive actions promoting the export of the American AI technology stack and the integration of AI across government and the economy. India has launched a comprehensive AI Mission under the Digital India Corporation, semiconductor manufacturing and design incentives, expanded R&D funding through the Research, Development, and Innovation Scheme, and initiated a new National Data Center Policy to support secure, scalable digital infrastructure. Aligning these initiatives serves both countries by diversifying supply chains, expanding AI talent, strengthening domestic ecosystems, denying strategic competitors’ dominance in global AI infrastructure and applications, and ensuring democratic and free-market values shape the global digital rulebook. All this comes against the backdrop of the January 2026 U.S.–India trade agreement and the 21-year tax holiday for foreign investments in data centers in India's 2026 Union Budget that strengthen the broader political and economic context and enable closer AI collaboration between the two countries.
This U.S.–India AI and Emerging Technology Compact offers concrete recommendations across four pillars—Applications, Infrastructure, Talent, and Policy—to translate aligned ambitions into durable outcomes. Developed by SCSP and ORF America, the report is intended to inform bilateral engagements, Quad coordination, and the AI Impact Summit to be hosted in India in February 2026. The recommendations that follow are the culmination of dialogue convenings with over 120 experts across four days in Washington D.C. and Delhi. Together, these recommendations position U.S.–India cooperation as a strategic multiplier for both nations’ autonomy, resilience, and global leadership in the AI era.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP) and Observer Research Foundation America (ORF America) have organized a U.S.-India AI and Technology Cooperation Dialogue to lay the foundation for sustained U.S.-India collaboration in these increasingly critical areas. This initiative builds on the deepening strategic partnership between the United States and India, one increasingly defined by cooperation in technologies that will shape the economic and security architecture of both nations in an era of intensifying global competition. This initiative aims to align and leverage both nations’ complementary technology strengths, avoid duplication of effort, and jointly accelerate innovation across critical technology domains. By strengthening our respective technology ecosystems and fostering shared capabilities, the U.S.-India technology partnership will secure the development and adoption of trusted, full-stack AI around the world.
Given the current AI landscape in the United States and India and their respective national efforts, SCSP and ORF America offer the following recommendations across four pillars of action.
A. Applications: Accelerating the development and adoption of AI-enabled solutions to establish our AI platforms as the global standard, outcompeting adversarial alternatives, while boosting economic productivity and welfare for our citizens. The core actions include establishing a public-private U.S.-India AI Coalition to prioritize commercial and dual-use applications in areas of impact; streamlining cybersecurity cooperation by encouraging U.S. and Indian agencies to develop joint threat-sharing protocols for AI-related cyber threats; strengthening Digital Public Infrastructure by creating an integration portal for U.S. firms to deploy data security solutions; and integrating AI into defense dialogues, capabilities development, and joint military exercises to align operational concepts and reinforce deterrence.
B. AI Infrastructure: Connecting the digital and industrial foundations of our AI stacks to grow our respective, domestic infrastructure capacities, in order to stay at the leading edge of AI and technology innovation. Key actions involve establishing a Comprehensive U.S.–India Full-Stack AI Infrastructure and Technology Program to identify and export integrated capabilities; synchronizing U.S. and Indian semiconductor policies to ensure supply chain resilience and remove investment hurdles; mobilizing a Joint AI Infrastructure Financing and Investment Program to secure capital for trusted projects; creating a Single-Window Clearance Mechanism under Invest India for fast-tracking project permitting approvals; and instituting a supply chain program to export mid-life U.S. GPUs to India for population scale AI use cases.
C. Talent: Creating the mutually reinforcing high-skill ecosystems to meet the demands of next-generation industries in both nations. The recommendations are to conduct Joint AI Labor-Market Mapping annually to align education and training programs with workforce needs; establish a standardized certification process for AI talent to set globally recognized benchmarks; create a Binational AI Training & Apprenticeship Network linking U.S. and Indian institutions for hands-on AI skills; and launch a Joint U.S.-India Research and Innovation Accelerator to align funding, capital, and intellectual property (IP) protections for joint research and development (R&D) projects.
D. Policies: Aligning policy foundations in order to lower the hurdles to cooperation between both countries and deepen the interoperability, trust, and resilience of our respective AI and technology ecosystems.
Actions include establishing a standing U.S.-India AI Standards Council to identify critical standards needed to enable AI cooperation, synchronize standards, and create a pathway for mutual recognition of certification of AI models and applications; jointly developing a Data Quality and Sharing Framework to enable secure, trusted, privacypreserving, and interoperable bilateral sharing of datasets; negotiating a Joint Intellectual-Property Compact to set clear rules for ownership and benefit-sharing of co-developed AI components and datasets; coordinating a Public Trust and Transparency Campaign to increase AI awareness; and launching a Unified U.S.-India AI Compliance and Information Portal to consolidate guidance on export controls and related AI regulations.
PILLAR A —HARNESS THE POWER: APPLICATIONS
AI and emerging technologies are reshaping every sector of national security, economy, and society, from defense and logistics to healthcare, education, and the broader economy. The countries that most effectively deploy beneficial AI at scale will define the next generation of global leadership. As China intensifies its push to commercialize and adopt AI, including applications for real-world use cases, the contest to dominate the application development and deployment layers of the AI-stack has become a crucial contest. The United States and India have the same objective: converting cutting-edge research into deployable AI-enabled solutions that boost economic productivity, improve the lives of their citizens, and strengthen national security. Combining AI development and deployment strengths, rather than pursuing the same goal in parallel, puts both nations in stronger competitive positions than going it alone. India brings scale, capacity, and digital public infrastructure while the United States holds R&D leadership and deployable capital. Moreover, societal uplifting AI applications can mobilize policy support for infrastructure investments.
A1. Establish a U.S.-India AI Coalition for Application and Adoption
Action: Establish a public-private partnership, the “U.S.-India AI Coalition,” consisting of senior level government officials, chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Commerce and India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). This joint, government-endorsed body should bring together representatives from leading private sector technology firms in both civilian and dual-use domains and national labs in both countries. The U.S.-India AI Coalition should:
(a) Identify and prioritize the development of commercial and dual-use AI applications in sectors critical to economic and societal prosperity. Development efforts should design joint pilot projects and testbeds to address common open challenges and facilitate a U.S.-India knowledge exchange to ensure learning and co-development in both ecosystems.
(b) Accelerate adoption of AI systems and applications with real-world impacts in the civilian and dual-use domains. Adoption objectives will be to devise mechanisms to effectively promote AI adoption of identified critical AI use cases, including increasing public awareness and education. Programs should be designed to facilitate knowledge exchange and apply lessons learned from sector-specific adoptions and outcomes throughout the U.S.-India AI Coalition's mandate. Adoption efforts should begin with identifying the most viable and mutually agreed strategic sectors for prioritizing AI adoption in the United States, India, and – via leveraging India’s position as a gateway – select emerging economies.
(c) Promote and support the adoption of commercial and dual-use AI applications developed under the U.S.-India AI Coalition by partners around the world, particularly in the Global South, where India’s leading voice can help sway partners to look to our collective platforms, rather than adversarial alternatives.
Why It Matters: India can become the world’s largest proving ground for AI use cases that have real world impacts on the economy and society. U.S. firms can gain application development know-how as well as talent, deployment scale, and experience deploying applications around the world and particularly in the Global South. Creating a sustainable public-private U.S-India AI Coalition will align government and industry efforts, promote interoperability between U.S. and Indian AI systems, and accelerate the translation of R&D into deployable technology. A focused process ensures that AI deployment advances economic strength and societal prosperity for both countries. The U.S.-India Coalition further supports efforts to export an AI-stack with shared values, including to third countries.
A2. Streamline AI Cybersecurity Cooperation
Action: Recommend the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), and India’s CERT, working with relevant private sector organizations, develop joint threat-sharing protocols, cyber workforce exchange programs, and common incident-reporting frameworks relevant to AI. Building upon existing secure channels between the U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM), India’s Defence Cyber Agency, and other relevant civilian cybersecurity agencies, implement a real-time exchange for AI and AI-related cyber threats, including a pilot program to enable timely exchange of relevant incident indicators and tested countermeasures.
Why It Matters: AI security is an emerging area where increased cybersecurity cooperation is an urgent matter to assist in and counter adversarial AI-enabled intrusion campaigns. Strong AI cybersecurity cooperation will help reduce median dwell time, deter adversaries, and contribute to building a scalable approach for security between the United States and India as well as including other partner countries. This cooperation also would enable: (1) the development of a machine readable specification to share such information, for example by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and CERT-In; and, (2) the establishment of a bilateral dialogue among government representatives, AI security firms, and universities to develop the still nascent foundations for AI security in order to solidify a directed research agenda and outline key efforts for AI security capacity building for the United States, India, and partner countries around the world.
A3. Strengthen Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) Linkages
Action: Recommend the Digital India Corporation (DIC), in coordination with the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), and the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), create a dedicated integration portal to enable U.S. technology firms and service providers to deploy AI and digital security solutions on top of the DPI stack to protect the outputs of DPI’s digital identity, payments, and document storage solutions. Using open application programming interfaces (APIs), DPI can leverage U.S. solutions and services, consistent with zero-trust architecture, global best practices, and relevant Indian and U.S. cybersecurity standards to deploy security, fraud protection and other services offered through DPI.
Why It Matters: Strengthening DPI infrastructure provides India the opportunity to export this infrastructure to the Global South and gives the U.S. firms the ability to build atop of and add to the infrastructure. Also, enhancing Indian cybersecurity capabilities for DPI with supplementary U.S. AI-enabled security solutions connects two of the world’s largest digital markets through trusted, high-performance systems. Integration can enhance the security, scalability, and reliability of India’s national digital platforms while providing expansion opportunities for U.S. fintech, identity management, and AI solution providers.
A4. Integrate AI into Defense Dialogues, Capabilities Development, and Joint Exercises
Action: Recommend that the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of War, in coordination with India’s Ministry of External Affairs and Ministry of Defence, include AI and emerging tech collaboration on the agendas of the U.S.–India 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue, Defense Policy Group strategy, and Military Cooperation Group planning. The Joint Technical Groups should also issue a call for their labs to conduct joint R&D projects on AI, and the U.S. Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) and India’s Innovations for Defense Excellence (iDEX) should issue joint challenges for AI integration into the development of new capabilities for ISR, MDA, space, cyber and logistics. The U.S. Department of War (led by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command) and India’s Ministry of Defence (led by the Chief of Defense Staff) should co-develop a plan for integrating AI into pilot testing and experimentation, fielding, red-teaming, joint exercises—including at Tiger Triumph, Yudh Abhyas, Cope India, and Malabar—and ultimately standing operations (like the CTF 150), to test operational concepts in C2, C4ISR, targeting, and cyber and electronic warfare.
Why It Matters: U.S.-India defense technology cooperation supports efforts to bring American defense AI into the world’s most strategic region, and aligns operational concepts, capabilities development, testing and experimentation, and deployment of tools to deter major adversaries. U.S. companies gain trusted export partners and new test environments. From a defense perspective, fusing data cross domain sources enables early identification of patterns, trends, and anomalies. This also strengthens interoperability, speeds Indian technology adoption, and ensures both militaries develop and test next-generation capabilities together. It demonstrates shared commitment to field-ready innovation that directly reinforces deterrence and operational advantage.
PILLAR B — BUILD THE BASE: AI INFRASTRUCTURE
AI strength begins with industrial and infrastructure strength because AI capacity depends on compute, connectivity, energy, and cloud capacity. The United States is investing heavily both to secure domestic semiconductor manufacturing and increase compute infrastructure through AI data centers. India, through the India Semiconductor Mission and Digital India initiatives, is broadening its semiconductor ecosystem by expanding trusted manufacturing, data, and cloud capacity. Together, these coordinated infrastructure investments create a complementary ecosystem that diversifies global supply chains, catalyzes joint investments, and positions both nations to build the backbone for AI applications in critical sectors.
B1. Establish a Comprehensive U.S.–India Full-Stack AI Infrastructure and Technology Program
Action: Recommend that the U.S. Department of Commerce and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in consultation with the private sector, including U.S. and Indian technology companies and investors, launch a binational program to identify current and future integrated full-stack U.S. and Indian AI infrastructure capabilities for export. The capabilities should include AI data centers, cloud facilities, edge computing, models, connectivity, and other enabling infrastructure components that can be deployed in India and other partner and ally countries by using capacity reflecting the strengths of both countries and joint blended infrastructure development financing. The program should include validated technology partners and services providers and a process to expedite procurement and deployment in third countries.
Why It Matters: India gains affordable access to leading edge compute and infrastructure technology while also contributing to the AI stack. U.S. firms gain scale with access to one of the fastest growing AI and data generation markets. Importantly, a collaborative AI stack allows for implementing shared values (e.g., openness and trust) whereby both countries gain secure and trusted infrastructure. In addition, an integrated outlook of the AI stack that also includes connecting components (subsea cables, data center zones, cooling innovation) avoids future dependence on untrusted suppliers and provides redundancy through wide adoption in partner and ally countries.
B2. Synchronize U.S. and Indian Semiconductor Policies
Action: The U.S. Department of Commerce, India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, and the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) should coordinate semiconductor policies to ensure supply chain resilience and technology security, including increasing access to equipment and specialized materials and gases. Specifically, both countries should incentivise partnerships between Indian and U.S. companies for co-development of de novo semiconductor technology, with a view to integrate such technology, allowing trusted procurement and joint equipment access commitments. Furthermore, this joint effort should review existing hurdles to U.S. semiconductor investments in India in consultation with the U.S. semiconductor industry and Indian stakeholders and develop a joint action plan to overcome them.
Why It Matters: As global demand for semiconductors continues to accelerate, aligning U.S. and Indian semiconductor efforts creates a trusted, complementary production base that strengthens both nations’ competitiveness and supports next-gen manufacturing. Successful coordination of semiconductor policies will support U.S. efforts to strengthen supply chain resilience and maintain leadership in advanced-node design and equipment manufacturing, while restoring reshored advanced fabrication capacity. For India, coordination means the ability to continue expanding in areas such as legacy fabrication, packaging, assembly testing, and materials engineering. India would thus have the opportunity to grow its manufacturing capacity and attract new high-quality investment while also seeking to expand its role in R&D, design, and innovation. While India continues to seek U.S. investments to broaden its semiconductor ecosystem, successful collaboration will require India to improve foreign direct investment and export control rules, and its ease of doing business.
B3. Mobilize a Joint AI Infrastructure Financing and Investment Program
Action: Recommend the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the Export–Import Banks of the United States and India, and India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund Limited (NIIFL) create a joint AI Infrastructure Financing and Investment Program to mitigate difficult-to-overcome delays in critical and timely AI infrastructure buildup. Bilateral Memoranda of Understanding among these institutions will help mobilize public capital and secure financing in support of trusted, high-impact infrastructure projects complementing ongoing government efforts (i.e., subsidies, loans, tax breaks, and schemes) and existing private capital offerings. The program should be informed by a gap analysis that identifies specific sectors and priority areas.3 Furthermore, the program should help ensure U.S. investments in India, and vice versa, with a particular focus on accelerating the timelines for infrastructure build outs to meet Indian needs in a timely fashion. The program should offer riskmitigated financing, co-lending arrangements, and guidance for private and other trusted investors aligned with U.S. and Indian national interests.
Why It Matters: Both nations face surging demand for secure compute infrastructure and energy capacity to support next-generation AI systems. Coordinated financing expands access to long-term, stable capital and financing for India’s build-out while opening new, reliable markets for U.S. technology and investment. By channeling funds into trusted systems, the program diversifies allied supply chains, accelerates deployment timelines, and prevents competitors from capturing strategic infrastructure domains.
B4. Create a Single-Window Clearance Mechanism for AI Infrastructure Projects
Action: Establish a streamlined single-window clearance mechanism for AI infrastructure projects under Invest India and the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). The mechanism should coordinate all major government permits and approvals requests —including for land, water, power, and construction —across relevant administrative and regulatory entities at both the central and state levels of government in India. The mechanism should include a fast-track channel for projects involving trusted U.S. partners and be developed in consultation with relevant U.S. and Indian organizations, including Indian state governments, to harmonize investment procedures and reduce red tape.
Why It Matters: A unified clearance process gives U.S. companies a faster, more predictable pathway to deploy advanced AI infrastructure in India, ensuring their technology, capital, and standards anchor the country’s next wave of digital growth. For India, expedient clearances accelerate project timelines, attracts high-quality investment, and strengthens domestic capacity in compute, energy, connective infrastructure, including undersea cables. Together, these reforms make India a more competitive and secure destination for U.S. firms while extending technology leadership into a trusted regional partner’s industrial base.
B5. Create and Integrated Supply and Deployment Chain for Refurbished U.S. GPUs
Action: Institute a program that allows U.S. firms to supply no longer economically viable GPUs for in-country purpose (e.g., certified refurbished older GPUs, such as A100s and H100s, in their mid-life (3-5 years)) to satisfy India’s need for affordable compute (e.g., for specialized SLMs that could run on older GPUs). The Prime Minister’s Office in India could consider establishing a working group (with representation from MeitY, DPIIT, IndiaAI Mission, NITI Aayog, industry, and academia) to design a time-bound policy framework for mid-life GPU imports, including technical and security standards, viable trade conditions for importing refurbished GPUs at scale, and establish a pilot with select public-sector and population-scale applications (such as in education or agriculture) to validate impact.
Why It Matters: The most advanced GPUs are unaffordable and inaccessible for India to address certain needs. However, older GPU architectures that are 3-5 years old would be more than sufficient to provide the necessary advanced compute capacity for many contemporary AI use cases in India that have broad societal benefits. For the United States this refurbishment process would provide the opportunity to monetize GPUs that would otherwise deteriorate by creating a trusted export market for used accelerators, reduce e-waste, and provide an affordable avenue for India to deploy hardware supporting AI applications. An integrated supply and deployment chain that allows U.S. firms to export mid-life GPUs would allow the most optimal choices to be made, for example, moving GPUs that are no longer economically viable in the United States to satisfy specific needs in India, thereby achieving greater efficiency for both countries. Importantly, integrating the U.S. and India AI compute supply chain ensures India has a bridge to access cutting edge AI chips for more advanced needs.
PILLAR C — TRAIN THE FUTURE: TALENT
In the AI era, the defining advantage of any leading nation is its people. An “AI workforce” requires integrating technical mastery with multidisciplinary expertise (i.e., not just engineers, but also ethicists, philosophers, educators, lawyers, etc.). The United States and India already lead the world in producing AI talent. However, both face gaps and the challenge of scaling their workforces quickly enough to meet changing demands. Assessing and then tilling this gap benefits both countries not only by meeting talent demands but also unlocking investment potential. Joint training, sustainable talent exchanges, and workforce initiatives will create a high-skill ecosystem capable of advancing research, accelerating innovation, and meeting the demands of next-generation industries. Linking two of the world’s largest pools of technical and non-technical AI expertise will result in a talent partnership that builds depth, efficiency, and resilience into the human foundations of the AI era.
C1. Conduct Joint AI Labor-Market Mapping
Action: Building on existing efforts to understand the impact of AI on the workforce, the U.S. Department of Labor and India’s Ministry of Education, in consultation with industry and academic institutions, should issue a joint forecast on AI-related workforce needs to forecast demand and align education, training, and skilling programs. Mapping efforts should include an audit of existing programs and a joint effort comparing equivalence of skills between the U.S. and India to help identify skills and training gaps (e.g., across critical domains such as AI research, data science, training/inference, and cybersecurity) to include universities, vocational schools, and professional training. This effort should be conducted annually to ensure identified skills keep pace with advancements in technology. and that a common taxonomy of AI roles can be established consistent with ongoing governmental education efforts.
Why It Matters: A shared understanding of workforce gaps enables both nations to align investments where they will yield the greatest strategic return. Understanding workforce gaps builds transparency across labor markets, ensures education programs meet real-world demand, and positions both workforces to compete at the highest technological frontier.
C2. Create a Standardized Certification Process for AI Talent
Action: The U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) and Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in consultation with industry and academic institutions, should establish a binational consortium to set standards that reflect globally recognized benchmarks for core global AI competencies identified as talent gaps from AI Labor-Market Mapping efforts. Once standards are created by both countries, an independent Page 14 body in each country can create and implement an industry-recognized and trusted talent certification program.
Why It Matters: A mutually recognized and trusted certification program for AI talent creates a high-quality, trusted talent pool, increasing interoperable talent flows between the United States and India. Linking certification to visa programs streamlines talent exchange, while private-sector consultation directly addresses and helps solve workforce mapping challenges by precisely identifying and closing skills gaps.
C3. Create a Binational AI Training & Apprenticeship Network
Action: Coordinate efforts with private sector companies and universities to establish AI training hubs, linking U.S. and Indian academic institutions, including community and vocational colleges, for hands-on AI skills, especially for semiconductor and cybersecurity experience. AI training efforts should focus not only on engineers, but also on social scientists, ethicists, and domain experts. The consortium also should collaborate on credentialing and creating pipelines from training to employment.
Why It Matters: Creating a binational training network builds the next generation of AI talent in both countries that is rooted in innovation through competition, rather than quasi state-directed technology models.
C4. Launch a Joint U.S.-India Research and Innovation Accelerator
Action: Recommend the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and India’s Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) and Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) establish a U.S.-India Research and Innovation Accelerator, linking leading universities, national labs, and incubators. The initiative will align research funding, seed capital, and intellectual property (IP) protections to support joint projects in AI, advanced computing, and emerging technologies modeled after the U.S.-Israel BIRD Foundation for pilot projects and leveraging the United States–India Science & Technology Endowment Fund (USISTEF).
Why It Matters: Connecting universities and incubators under a single framework accelerates the path from research to commercialization. Such an accelerator also enables U.S. venture capital to back Indian startups that are building and developing atop U.S. models, fostering early-stage alignment on AI security, standards, and supply chains, while providing India with necessary private investments and IP access.
PILLAR D — WRITE THE RULES: POLICY AND STANDARDS
Sustainable U.S-India cooperation on AI development and deployment requires a policy foundation as strong as the technology itself. The two countries must align on necessary standards, data governance, and IP frameworks to ensure interoperability, trust, and competitiveness for achieving the ambitions set forth in these recommendations. Doing so will allow companies, entrepreneurs and innovators in both countries to implement stated actions seamlessly under predictable, transparent rules free from coercive systems. Coordinated policy action also protects critical technologies from exploitation by adversarial actors while supporting responsible innovation. A broader impact is that by speaking with one voice on global AI governance, Washington and New Delhi can define the rules of the road for the next century’s most consequential technology.
D1. Establish a U.S.–India AI Standards Council
Action: The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Bureau of Indian Standards should form a standing standards coordination council (“AI Standards Council”) and, in consultation with relevant standards organizations, private sector firms, and civil society, identify critical standards, including voluntary best practices, guidelines, and frameworks, needed to enable AI cooperation., The AI Standards Council should work toward synchronizing standards and leveraging existing private-sector led ISO bodies and standards to ensure AI deployments are trustworthy. The AI Standards Council should build on and leverage standards cooperation efforts already undertaken by the United States and India. Furthermore, every twelve months as technologies advance, the AI Standards Council shall strive to identify and prioritize key areas where jointly developed or harmonized technical standards and best practices are essential, such as for testing, evaluation, and certification of safety, and cybersecurity of AI systems, including dual-use models and applications. In addition to AI development standards, the Council should explore pathways toward mutual recognition of deployer-level conformity assessment and compliance testing between the United States and India.
Why It Matters: By harmonizing standards and developing a pathway for mutual recognition of certification and compliance testing frameworks for deployments, this initiative ensures AI applications developed according to either U.S. or Indian specifications can operate in either market, thereby reducing duplication, and lowering compliance costs for companies in both countries, as well as set global standards.
D2. Develop a Dataset Quality and Sharing Frameworks
Action: The U.S. Department of Commerce and India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in consultation with the private sector and civil society, should jointly develop a framework and associated policies to enable the secure, trusted, privacy-preserving, and bilateral sharing of datasets between public sectors, public and private sector, and private to private exchange. The dataset frameworks should: (1) remove existing legal barriers to data sharing, while respecting data residency and sovereignty; (2) address necessary technical infrastructure, enforcement mechanisms to prevent criminal activities (e.g., data theft and using data for illicit surveillance), and resolve differences in data localization protocols; (3) address privacy and security concerns (e.g., through a federated model for privacy-preserving data exchanges); and, (4) account for the value of public datasets for research. Dataset frameworks should be specific to data type and separate out personal health records given their sensitive nature. As a joint pilot project, establish a U.S.-India data modeling and climate forecasting initiative that integrates U.S. NOAA datasets and Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) observations to improve food security and resilience.
Why It Matters: Data is critical to the development of AI applications, in both quality and quantity. A universal, interoperable joint framework enables shared research and model training without compromising sovereignty and relevant privacy and security regulations.
D3. Negotiate a Joint Intellectual-Property Compact
Action: The U.S. Secretary of Commerce, India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and respective trade representatives, with counsel from respective industry representatives, should negotiate clear rules for co-developed AI components and datasets that address ownership, licensing, monetizing, and benefit-sharing. Also, the patent and economic bureaus of both countries should explore the economic and incentive value of establishing IP rights for datasets.
Why It Matters: Recognizing AI components and datasets as an asset, potentially with IP rights (e.g., patents, copyrights, and trade secrets), encourages private investment by clarifying legal ambiguities and protects U.S. inventors and data curators, while giving Indian partners the confidence to co-develop and commercialize innovations collaboratively. This is particularly critical given the PRC recently issued guidance for data-asset management, utilization, and value realization, including income distribution mechanisms that treat data as something that can generate returns.
D4. Launch a Public Trust and Transparency Campaign
Action: Recommend the U.S. Department of Labor and India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment, alongside relevant agencies, coordinate a public campaign building on existing efforts to increase AI awareness and education to highlight AI’s role in jobs, safety of “narrow AI,” and shape the narrative that AI augments human intelligence. The campaign should deliver data-led communication on outcomes from the other pillars (e.g., available reskilling and upskilling pathways, safety and risk management practices). The campaign should establish methods for gauging public sentiment and awareness pre- and post-campaign in order to iterate on the campaign.
Why It Matters: This actively counters anti-AI narratives and positions the U.S.-India partnership as the ethical and trustworthy choice for AI technologies. The campaign also will serve to shape the dialogue framing the tradeoffs between burdens and benefits of AI deployments.
D5. Create a Unified U.S.–India AI Compliance and Information Portal
Action: Recommend Invest India and the Ministry of Finance, in coordination with the U.S. Department of Treasury, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), launch a public-facing digital portal consolidating guidance on export controls, investment screening, IP protections, and related AI regulations issued by both governments. The portal will serve as a single, authoritative source (e.g., includes links to government approved information sources) for firms navigating cross-border AI trade and compliance requirements for different sectors and will be updated iteratively.
Why It Matters: A unified information platform streamlines business engagement, shortens approval timelines, and lowers compliance costs, especially for startups and small firms. By improving transparency and regulatory coordination, this platform will enable faster, more secure investment and technology exchange across the U.S.-India innovation collaboration.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
SCSP and ORF America are especially grateful to the Co-Chairs of our U.S. and India Track 1.5 Dialogues, Ambassador Kenneth Juster, Distinguished Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations and Mr. Mathew Oommen, Group CEO, Jio Platforms Limited. Their guidance and leadership were invaluable to our discussions held in Washington D.C. and New Delhi. This report and the recommendations within were prepared by SCSP and ORF America, drawing on many, though not all, of the insights and contributions from experts from government, industry, academia, and civil society in the United States and India.We are deeply grateful to everyone who participated in our efforts, including those listed below, and believe this effort reflects the key points we have learned and charts a path for action for both nations.
Note: Citations and references can be found in the PDF version of this paper available here.
ORF America
Jeffrey D. Bean
Program Manager for Technology Policy
Andreas Kuehn
Senior Fellow
Dhruva Jaishankar
Executive Director
SCSP
Ylli Bajraktari
President
Joe Wang
Vice President
Rama Elluru
Senior Advisor
Channing Lee
Associate Director
Ananmay Agarwal
Associate Director
Contributors
Manoj Agarwal
Seafund Ventures
Arvind Chandrasekar
AMD
Archana lyer
AZB & Partners, Mumbai
David Jea
Department of State/U.S. Embassy Delhi
UT Vijeth Kanahalli
Tata Consultancy Services
Jags Kandasamy
Latent Al
Mohit Kapoor
Mahindra Group
Vrinda Kapoor
3rdiTech
Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy
India Business Software Alliance
Vibhav Mithal
Anand and Anand
Venkat Padmanabhan
Microsoft Research India
Garima Prakash
3rdiTech
Anish Somani
India Al Impact Summit 2026 Secretariat, MeitY