India jumps to No. 3 on Global AI Vibrancy Index, talent pool surges 252%

New Delhi [India], December 31 (ANI): India has climbed to the third position globally on Stanford University's 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Index, behind only the United States and China, marking a sharp rise of four places in just one year.
Citing the Stanford University's 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Index data, Karnataka's Minister for Electronics, IT and BT, Priyank Kharge, said in a social media post that India's improved ranking reflects progress across multiple parameters including R&D, talent, responsible AI, policy and infrastructure.
He stated "India is now ranked No. 3 globally on Stanford University's 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Index, behind only the US and China, after climbing four places in just one year. The ranking is based on parameters including R&D, talent, responsible AI, policy and infrastructure. India's rise has been driven by stronger research output, higher patenting, a growing AI jobs market and expanding digital infrastructure. On talent, India already ranks No. 2 globally, reflecting the scale and depth of our AI workforce and education ecosystem".
The Karnataka Minister further stated that the state was a key contributor to the momentum and that the state government was positioning itself as India's AI lighthouse.
"Karnataka has been a key contributor to this momentum. We are positioning the state as India's AI lighthouse. Our Startup Policy 2025-30 commits ₹518 crore to support 25,000 startups with a strong AI and deeptech focus. A ₹600 crore DeepTech Decade fund, the new IT Policy 2025-30 and institutions like ARTPARK at IISc, the 9-acre BRAINZ (Bengaluru Robotics & AI Innovation Zone) campus and a ₹1,000 crore AI and robotics push, supported by accelerators in tier-2 and 3 cities, together have created a strong policy-fund-CoE stack to scale AI from R&D to exports," he said.
The ranking, released by Stanford University, highlights India's rapid progress in artificial intelligence across key areas such as research and development, talent availability, responsible AI practices, policy frameworks and digital infrastructure.
The report noted that governments across the world are significantly increasing investments in AI infrastructure to strengthen their domestic ecosystems. Canada announced a USD 2.4 billion AI infrastructure package, France committed EUR109 billion towards AI infrastructure, India pledged USD 1.25 billion, and Saudi Arabia's Project Transcendence represents a USD 100 billion AI investment initiative.
The report further highlighted that on the talent front, India already ranks No. 2 globally, highlighting the scale and depth of the country's AI workforce and education ecosystem. It also pointed to a sharp increase in AI talent concentration across several countries between 2016 and 2024.
India recorded the highest rise at 252 per cent, followed by Costa Rica at 240 per cent and Portugal at 237 per cent.
The report also referred to the IndiaAI Mission, launched in March 2024 with an investment of USD 1.25 billion. It stated that the initiative aims to strengthen India's AI ecosystem by building more than 10,000 GPUs through public-private partnerships, developing a national non-personal data platform and supporting homegrown AI models and deep-tech startups.
It also focuses on ethical AI governance and expanding AI labs beyond major cities to democratise access.
Together, these developments highlight India's growing role as a major global AI hub, supported by rising talent strength, policy recalibration and targeted public investment, the report noted. (ANI)