Artificial intelligence: Why India risks falling behind in the tech race

India’s tech industry is being less than bold in embracing artificial intelligence. It’s hoping to create solutions for corporate clients by building on top of somebody else’s investment in foundational technologies, hardly a strategy for pathbreaking success.

ChatGPT’s high-voltage debut last year has galvanized China. Baidu Inc.’s Ernie, which claims to have outperformed Microsoft Corp.-backed OpenAI’s model on some measures, has pulled Ant Group Co. and JD.com into the bot-building race. Tech czars like Wang Xiaochuan, the founder of the search engine Sogou, have also joined the quest, drawing talent to the industry. On money flow, the US is still beating China six to one,