Why India joining the US alliance on AI tech is an opportunity for Australia
Why India joining the US alliance on AI tech is an opportunity for Australia
Publish Date: 2026-02-24 23:11:00
Source Domain: theconversation.com
India has formally joined the United States’ flagship international alliance on artificial intelligence (AI) supply chain security: “Pax Silica”. Officials from both countries signed the Pax Silica declaration on the sidelines of a major AI summit in New Delhi last week.
This initiative seeks to bring together US “allies and trusted partners” to lead the global AI race. Australia was a founding member.
While Taiwan looks set to keep dominating advanced AI chip manufacturing, it relies on a complex international supply chain, with critical aspects dominated by China.
When essential elements come from a narrow set of suppliers, even minor disruptions can ripple globally. Diversity matters. That’s why Australia and India now have an opportunity to become essential international players.
Why Washington is building an alliance
AI is rapidly becoming a foundational resource of the 21st century across manufacturing, logistics, finance, healthcare, drug discovery and defence.
The Pax Silica alliance recognises different countries play distinct and critical roles in building the tech that powers AI.
For example, advanced chip-design expertise is concentrated in the US. Key semiconductor manufacturing equipment comes from the Netherlands and Japan.
South Korea produces a small but important slice of the world’s AI computer chips. But the biggest chip maker by far is the tiny island nation of Taiwan.
Healthcare AI robots at an exhibition at the India AI Impact Summit.
AP
The world’s chip factory
Taiwan produces 90% of the world’s most advanced AI chips, designed by US firms such as Nvidia, Google and AMD.
These firms overwhelmingly depend on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC). This remains the only manufacturer that can produce the world’s most cutting-edge chips at scale.
And their advantage extends beyond making chips. TSMC also…
