What is Pax Silica, the US-led AI and semiconductor supply chain bloc India will be invited to join

India is set to be invited to join Pax Silica, a US-led strategic initiative aimed at securing global supply chains for artificial intelligence (AI) and semiconductors. The announcement, made by US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor on January 12, signals a deepening of India–US cooperation in critical and emerging technologies at a time when geopolitical competition is increasingly centred on chips, data, and computing power.

What is Pax Silica and why is Washington pushing it?

Pax Silica is the flagship initiative of the US State Department focused on AI, semiconductors, and technology supply chain security. The name reflects its central concern: “silica” as the foundation of modern computing, and “pax” as a rules-based order among trusted partners.

At its core, Pax Silica seeks to reduce global dependence on any single country for critical technologies. It aims to prevent coercive leverage in supply chains, protect sensitive AI and chip technologies from misuse or theft, and ensure that advanced computing infrastructure is developed within a trusted ecosystem of like-minded states.

How the initiative rethinks technology supply chains

Unlike narrow chip-focused alliances, Pax Silica adopts an end-to-end view of the technology ecosystem. It spans everything from upstream inputs to downstream deployment, including:

• Critical minerals and energy inputs needed for chipmaking
• Advanced manufacturing and high-end hardware
• Semiconductors and AI infrastructure
• Compute capacity, data flows, and logistics

This reflects a growing recognition in Washington that the AI revolution is not just about algorithms, but about physical infrastructure—fabs, data centres, power grids, and mineral supply chains—that are vulnerable to disruption.

Who is already part of Pax Silica?

The current grouping includes the United States, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Israel, the UAE, and Australia. More recently, Qatar and the UAE have been invited, highlighting US efforts to draw the Middle East into a technology-centric economic framework and encourage cooperation between Israel and Gulf states.

This composition underlines Pax Silica’s dual character: part economic coordination platform, part geopolitical alignment among countries that host or enable critical nodes of the global chip and AI value chain.

Why India’s inclusion matters

India’s proposed entry is significant on several counts. First, it positions India as a credible alternative manufacturing and innovation hub at a time when companies are actively diversifying away from concentrated production geographies. Second, it aligns with India’s push to build domestic semiconductor capacity and expand its role in AI development and deployment.

For the US, India offers scale, a growing talent pool, and strategic depth. For India, Pax Silica provides access to trusted technology networks, coordinated investments, and deeper integration with advanced manufacturing ecosystems.

The strategic logic behind Pax Silica

According to the Pax Silica Declaration, the initiative recognises that AI-driven growth will sharply increase demand for energy, critical minerals, and computing hardware. Unchecked concentration of these resources, it argues, could expose countries to supply shocks, political pressure, or technology denial.

By coordinating investments and standards across partner nations, Pax Silica aims to unlock economic potential while ensuring that advanced technologies remain secure and responsibly governed.

What comes next for India and the bloc?

India’s formal invitation is expected to open the door to deeper collaboration in semiconductor fabrication, advanced packaging, AI infrastructure, and supply chain resilience. Over time, Pax Silica could also shape global norms on trusted AI systems, data governance, and secure digital infrastructure.

As technology increasingly defines geopolitical power, Pax Silica represents a shift from ad hoc cooperation to a more structured, alliance-based approach to the world’s most critical technologies—one in which India is now poised to play a central role.