The Stanford University (USA) AI Index 2026 report shows a notable paradox when India possesses abundant artificial intelligence (AI) human resources, but is leading the world in terms of "brain drain".
According to a report released by the Institute of Artificial Intelligence for Humans (HAI, Stanford University), the US is still the largest center for AI research with more than 220,000 authors and inventors, followed by India with about 50,460 people and Germany ranked third. It is forecast that by 2025, India will continue to hold the second position globally in AI human resources.
However, this country recorded the largest negative net flow of talent, at -16.9%. This shows that the number of AI experts leaving is significantly higher than the number returning or immigrating.
Conversely, the US, although still the top destination, has witnessed a sharp decline in attracting AI talents, with the number of scholars transferring to the US decreasing by 89% since 2017.
According to experts, this reflects the fact that the US is still the main destination for Indian AI talents, in the context of increasingly fierce global competition and factors such as immigration policy, job opportunities or investment allocation play an important role.
Despite facing brain drain, India is still emerging as a dynamic AI application market.
In 2025, the rate of businesses in this country deploying AI reached 88%, a sharp increase compared to 77% of the previous year.
Notably, more than 80% of workers in India, along with countries such as China or the United Arab Emirates, said they regularly use AI in their work.
In terms of skills, India leads the world with the highest level of AI skills penetration, nearly three times higher than the global average. However, the gender gap is still a worrying issue as men tend to possess and declare about 1.5 times more AI skills than women.
Another notable point is user psychology. Despite the strong increase in AI applications, India recorded the highest global concern increase, increasing by 14 percentage points in just one year. This shows that the rapid development of technology is accompanied by concerns about risks and social impacts.
Regarding investment, India attracted 4.09 billion USD of private capital into AI in 2025, behind the US, China and some European countries. However, the AI startup ecosystem is still developing strongly with more than 100 new companies being invested in.
Globally, the report shows that AI computing capacity is growing rapidly, with Nvidia accounting for more than 60% of the market share. Private investment in AI is also increasing sharply, especially in the field of generative AI, accounting for 60% of total capital.
In general, the Stanford report shows that the global AI picture is clearly differentiated. While the US still plays a central role, countries like India are emerging strongly but facing the challenge of retaining talent, which is a key factor in the technology race.
