India’s nuclear chief says AI and quantum will drive new tech transition

Mohanty’s speech is not a policy document, but it is a useful barometer of how India’s scientific establishment is framing AI and quantum to the next generation of engineers. When the chair of the Atomic Energy Commission tells a convocation that India is entering a decisive transition built on AI, quantum, semiconductors and space, he is effectively aligning emerging compute and intelligence technologies with the same long‑term nation‑building logic that once governed nuclear and space programs. That narrative matters in a country where public sector labs, PSUs and elite institutes still shape a large share of technical careers.

For the global AGI race, India’s role has often been cast mainly as a consumer of Western models and a supplier of talent. Speeches like this hint at a more assertive posture: AI and quantum are framed as tools to secure energy, food and environmental resilience at scale, with an expectation that domestic capabilities will have to be built rather than rented. In practice, that could translate into more support for national compute facilities, academic–industry consortia around AI for health and agriculture, and participation in multilateral AI safety and standards efforts.