On May 8, ORF America, in partnership with the Special Competitive Studies Project (SCSP), the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), and the Motwani Jadeja Foundation, organized a day of programming at SCSP’s 2026 AI+ Expo on U.S.-India AI and technology cooperation. Featuring speakers from both the U.S. and Indian governments, the private sector, Indian startups, and experts, the discussions aimed to engage the public and raise awareness on the scope of existing cooperation, as well as areas for future engagement.
Several key overarching takeaways emerged:
Technology cooperation has been the consistent engine to pull the U.S.-India bilateral relationship forward, despite friction in other areas.
In the age of AI, U.S.-India cooperation, along with like-minded partners, will be essential to ensure standards and AI governance reflect democratic norms and shared values, not authoritarian modalities.
While the U.S. and Indian governments play a crucial facilitating role, investment decisions on AI are still driven by the private sector and they are moving forward. Investment in AI data centers in India by U.S. firms — including Microsoft, Google, and Amazon — have reached over $65 billion in keeping with the U.S. AI Action Plan to export leading AI hardware and services. Correspondingly, significant Indian private investments of over $20.5 billion announced during Select USA in May 2026 — particularly in pharmaceuticals, AI, and manufacturing — showcase the vibrancy of private sector engagement and investment.
Ongoing conflicts have demonstrated the utility to the U.S. and Indian militaries of continued cooperation on applied AI and unmanned systems technology to provide new or enhanced capabilities across each domain in intelligence, foresight, planning, logistics, communications, and targeting.
In February 2026, ORF America and SCSP published the U.S.-India AI and Emerging Technology Compact. Developed with input from experts across government, industry, academia, and civil society, the report offers recommendations to coordinate future bilateral efforts to advance technology innovation and prosperity.
