Proposed restrictions on exports of artificial intelligence chips to non-major allies, including India, would challenge the country’s AI hardware plans, which are critical to local development of emerging technologies, semiconductor industry group IESA said on Wednesday. India’s National AI Mission aims to develop infrastructure with over 10,000 GPUs (Graphics Processing Units) through public-private partnerships, supported by an investment of Rs 10,000 crore over five years.
The US government has proposed a new framework to restrict imports of artificial intelligence chips, citing national security concerns for producers and the technological and economic interests of other countries.
The proposal has no restrictions on the 18 major U.S. allies in Group 1, but limits on the quantum that can be exported to other countries in Group 2, including India.
Ashok Chandak, chairman of the Indian Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), said: “In the short term, new export restrictions may not have a major impact on India. , could challenge India’s ambitions to deploy AI hardware at scale.” said in a statement.
The proposal would limit exports to Group 2 countries to less than 1,700 GPUs per company per year.
“Large AI data centers that require hundreds of thousands of GPUs may be delayed or scaled back, giving global companies a competitive advantage over Indian companies. But small-scale setups can also allow for experimentation, innovation, and limited model development,” Chandak said.
He added that since India is neither a re-exporter of computing ICs (integrated circuits) nor an advanced computing manufacturing hub, it has the potential to obtain General Nationally Validated End User (NVEU) approval.
“This difference, combined with the presence of important Indian design centers for GPU manufacturers such as NVIDIA and AMD, and management commitments to support India, puts India in a favorable position for license approvals. It is possible,” Chandak said.
US-based providers such as Amazon, Microsoft and Meta are expected to receive global authorization, but under the proposed framework only 50% of their AI computing capacity would be deployed outside the US. limited.
Chandak said the export controls are expected to go into effect within 120 days, and that the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump could revise these regulations.
“So it’s a little unclear whether the Trump administration will relax it or pass the rules as is.Amid growing concerns from the tech industry, we’re seeing a shift in the global AI landscape, and we’re seeing US technological leadership and India’s infrastructure.
“In the short term, India may not have a big impact, but in the long term, Indian conglomerates may face volume-limiting hurdles if they scale up,” he said.
However, Umakant Soni, co-founder and chairman of AI Foundry, ARTPARK, said India will be vulnerable to the geopolitical challenges posed by these restrictions as countries and companies such as Apple and Samsung look to diversify their supply chains away from China. He said the company stands to benefit greatly from the restructuring.
“India already has a strong base of chip design and engineering talent (companies such as Intel, NVIDIA, and Qualcomm have R&D centers in India). The system could also be strengthened. However, India will need to increase its investment in training its workforce in semiconductor manufacturing and design to make the most of the opportunity.” he said.
The proposed framework completely bans the export of AI chips to countries in Group 3, which includes China, Russia, Iran, Iraq, Cambodia, and Belarus.
