Our Bureau
Washington, DC
India and the United States held a closed-door roundtable bringing together senior government officials and industry leaders to strengthen cooperation in artificial intelligence (AI), semiconductor supply chains and critical minerals, as both countries seek to deepen their strategic technology partnership.
In a post on X on Friday, the Indian Embassy in the United States highlighted the significance of the meeting, saying, “Securing the foundations of AI together!”
The embassy said Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra, MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology) Secretary S Krishnan, and US Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce Bill Guidera addressed a gathering of Indian and American companies working in semiconductors, critical minerals and AI.
The post said, “Ambassador @AmbVMKwatra, Secretary MeiTY S. Krishnan and Deputy Under Secretary of Commerce Bill Guidera addressed a group of Indian and US companies working on the chips, critical minerals and AI in a closed-door round table organised by Embassy along with USISPF and Silverado Policy Accelerator. Additional Secretary (Americas) Nagaraj Naidu from MEA, USISPF President Mukesh Aghi and DAS Christopher Saldana from DoE also joined the discussions.”
According to the embassy, the discussions were also attended by Additional Secretary (Americas) Nagaraj Naidu from the Ministry of External Affairs, USISPF (US-India Strategic Partnership Forum) President Mukesh Aghi and Deputy Assistant Secretary Christopher Saldana from the US Department of Energy.
The embassy said the roundtable focused on strengthening the investment environment and expanding bilateral cooperation on AI.
It added, “Discussions focused on addressing shared barriers for investment, creating durable demand signals, and opportunities for AI collaboration at various levels, including frontier and application.”
Meanwhile, the United States and India are engaged in high-level, “sensitive” discussions regarding the release of advanced artificial intelligence models, including those developed by Anthropic.
US Under Secretary of Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg confirmed the ongoing dialogue, emphasising that both nations are prioritising a secure and collaborative approach to frontier AI technology.
In an exclusive conversation regarding the rollout of models like Anthropic’s Fable, Helberg stressed that the US is committed to a “gradual, measured approach.” This strategy is designed to ensure safety not only for the United States but also for India and other “trusted partners” who rely on these technologies for critical infrastructure, such as power grids.
Helberg highlighted the complex nature of these negotiations, noting that while the discussions involve “sensitive national security” matters that cannot be fully detailed for public consumption, the two countries are in strong alignment.
“We continue to have ongoing conversations about this topic with our Indian friends. These are very sensitive national security discussions that are not quite right for public consumption. But I think both sides really understand each other’s perspectives, our intention is very much to continue a gradual measured approach to how we release Anthropic’s models in a way that is safe, both for ourselves but also for our Indian counterparts as well as all our trusted partners for our critical infrastructure, for our power grid and so we are going to continue making sure that we do the hardwork in having those conversations.,” Helberg added, underscoring the deep cooperation between Washington and New Delhi.
The ongoing dialogue reflects the growing importance of the US-India technology partnership. As both nations explore the integration of advanced AI across sensitive sectors, they are working to establish frameworks that manage the risks associated with frontier models while fostering technological advancement.
By maintaining these high-level conversations, both sides aim to safeguard their critical infrastructure from the potential disruptions that can accompany the rapid deployment of powerful AI systems.
