Need to de-risk single-point failures in global AI supply chains: US official

The US and India are on the same page on the need to de-risk single-point failures in global supply chains powering artificial intelligence technologies, a senior US official said on Friday.

Pax Silica, a US-led initiative which brings together allied countries to secure AI supply chains, opens the door to deepen collaboration between India and the US on semiconductor manufacturing and critical minerals processing, US Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Jacob Helberg told reporters here.

Helberg said India has the potential to become a comprehensive partner and the governments in Washington and New Delhi were already working together on a whole array of different issues.


"We already work together in a whole array of different issues, and Pax Silica opens the door to deepen our collaboration on semiconductor manufacturing, on critical minerals processing," Helberg said on the sidelines of an event where Kazakhstan, Panama, Chile, Argentina, Costa Rica and El Salvador joined Pax Silica.

"Our countries fundamentally share the exact same concerns about the fragility of the status quo in our supply chains," Helberg said in reply to a question on India.

He noted that India is home to one of the largest youth populations in the world and the US saw opportunities in terms of promoting a developer ecosystem, entrepreneurship and jobs for the people of the two countries.

"So we're very excited to work with it," Helberg said.

The US official acknowledged that there was a problem of over-concentration of supply chains, and some such issues were not unique to China.

"We think about it as a problem of over-concentration in our supply chains, and there are over-concentration issues that are not unique to China, and there are some that are," he said.

"Fundamentally, the issue is the supply chain right now is reliant on single points of failure, whether they be logistical or whether they be industrial," Helberg said.

"We are totally on the same page about the fact that these single points of failure need to be de-risked for the health of the global economy," the US official said.

At the two-day second Pax Silica Summit held in Washington on Thursday, 35 nations signed the Joint Statement on AI Opportunity, aligning behind a pro-growth, pro-innovation regulatory approach for the AI era.

India is represented at the Summit by S Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Nagraj Naidu, Additional Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and representatives of the Indian industry.

The Indian delegation engaged with other governments and industry experts on advancing collaboration in semiconductors, artificial intelligence, and resilient technology supply chains.