Gautam Adani, Chairman of the Adani group, on Monday warned that artificial intelligence (AI) will upend global competition and recast the balance of power between nations and corporations.

He called on India to treat technological self-reliance as its next freedom struggle.

In a keynote address at the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur on Monday, the Adani Group chairman said the speed of innovation in AI and related technologies is so rapid that today’s advantages could disappear overnight.

He urged both the central government and corporate sector to prepare for an era where algorithms, data and intellectual property determine sovereignty.

“The wars we fight today are often invisible. They are fought in server farms, not in trenches. The weapons are algorithms, not guns. The empires are not built on land, but in data centres,” Adani told students in a packed auditorium.

Adani framed the challenge as India’s “second freedom struggle,” comparing the nation’s quest for self-reliance in critical technologies to its 20th-century fight against colonial rule.

While political independence was achieved in 1947, he argued, India remains dependent on foreign countries for semiconductors, energy and defence systems.

Nearly 90 per cent of chips are imported, he noted, leaving the country exposed to sanctions or supply disruptions.

“Your innovation, your software code, and your ideas are today’s weapons,” he told students at IIT Kharagpur. “You will decide whether India takes command of its destiny or surrenders it to others.”

Adani warned that as AI begins to build AI, robots build robots, and machines teach machines, entire industries and education systems will face disruption.

Cost advantages in labour will evaporate, he said, unless India leads in intellectual property creation and breakthrough technologies.

The billionaire, whose $200 billion Adani Group operates the country’s largest ports, airports and renewable power projects, also acknowledged that India’s private sector has lagged in research and innovation.