Anthropic access row rekindles self-reliance debate; Sridhar Vembu says ‘Globalisation Is Dead’
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The United States has abruptly escalated its technology export controls, ordering AI firm Anthropic to restrict global access to its frontier models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for all foreign nationals, including its own non-American employees. This move, citing national security concerns over potential 'jailbreaks', has sent shockwaves through India's tech ecosystem, prompting Zoho co-founder Sridhar Vembu to declare 'Globalisation Is Dead' and call for immediate national self-reliance. The directive marks a significant policy shift, extending controls beyond hardware to direct AI model access, even as Anthropic disputes the severity of the alleged vulnerabilities. The restrictions have reignited fervent calls in India for an accelerated push towards sovereign AI capabilities amidst rising geopolitical risks and persistent GPU shortages. Veteran investor T.V. Mohandas Pai urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to launch a drastically expanded India AI Mission with a proposed ₹50,000 crore fund, advocating for an end-to-end indigenous AI stack to prevent future technological dependencies. This sentiment is amplified by existing challenges: India's ambitious plans to scale its GPU capacity, aiming for 100,000 units by year-end 2026, remain heavily reliant on foreign supply chains, predominantly NVIDIA, exposing a critical vulnerability. Looking ahead, India's response will likely involve a multifaceted strategy focusing on deepening domestic R&D, fostering open-source AI development, and fast-tracking the India Semiconductor Mission to build a robust indigenous hardware foundation. The government's existing IndiaAI Mission, which has already supported the development of 20 foundational AI models including Avataar Varya and IIT Bombay's BharatGen, now faces intensified pressure to deliver at scale. This incident signals a new era of technological nationalism, forcing nations like India to fundamentally reassess global tech interdependence and accelerate their paths to digital autonomy. The coming months will test India's resolve and capacity to build a truly self-reliant AI ecosystem, shaping its position in the emerging global AI order.