India ranks third globally in AI competitiveness, trailing US and China

India has emerged as the world’s third-most competitive nation in artificial intelligence, according to a report by Stanford University, underlining the country’s rapid rise in the global AI landscape.

As per Stanford University’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool, as visualised in a chart by Visual Capitalist, India secured the third position with a score of 21.59, ranking behind the United States at 78.6 and China at 36.95, the report stated. The wide gap in scores highlighted that India still has significant ground to cover before matching the scale and depth of AI leadership seen in the US and China, even as it outperformed several major economies including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Germany.

The Global AI Vibrancy Tool assesses national competitiveness across multiple parameters, including availability of talent, research and development output, levels of investment, public policy and perception, infrastructure readiness and overall economic impact, the report informed. Stanford University noted that India’s strong showing reflects rapid progress driven by a robust technology ecosystem, rising investments and a growing pool of skilled talent.

The development comes days after several global technology companies announced plans to make multi-billion-dollar investments in India’s AI and digital infrastructure over the coming years. Amazon stated it would invest $35 billion by 2030 across AI, logistics and cloud computing infrastructure in the country, while Microsoft pledged $17.5 billion for cloud and AI expansion, marking its largest investment in Asia.

Earlier, companies including Intel, Cognizant and OpenAI also announced investment commitments and collaboration plans, further underscoring global confidence in India’s emergence as a key AI destination alongside the US and China, the report added.