India Ranks 3rd in AI Competitiveness: Stanford Report

India has emerged as the world’s third most competitive country in artificial intelligence, underscoring the country’s rapid progress in the global AI race. According to a new report by Stanford University, India now trails only the United States and China in overall AI competitiveness.

Data from Stanford’s Global AI Vibrancy Tool, visualized by Visual Capitalist, shows that India is ranked third with a score of 21.59. The US leads the table with a dominant score of 78.6, followed by China at 36.95. 

While the wide gap highlights how far India still has to go before it can challenge the two AI superpowers, its performance puts it well ahead of several advanced economies, including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and Germany.

The Global AI Vibrancy Tool evaluates countries across multiple dimensions that shape AI leadership, including the availability of skilled talent, research and development output, levels of investment, public policy and perception, infrastructure readiness, and overall economic impact. 

Stanford’s assessment highlights India’s rapid progress, driven by a strong technology ecosystem, rising investment flows, and a deepening pool of AI talent.

The ranking comes amid a surge of large-scale commitments by global technology companies to build AI and cloud infrastructure in India. Amazon recently announced plans to invest $35 billion by 2030 in AI, logistics, and cloud computing infrastructure in the country. Microsoft, meanwhile, has pledged $17.5 billion for cloud and AI expansion, its largest investment in Asia to date.

Earlier, companies such as Intel, Cognizant, and OpenAI had also unveiled investment and collaboration plans linked to India, reinforcing global confidence in the country’s potential as a major AI hub alongside the US and China.