New Delhi, June 30 -- Big Tech companies remain publicly confident that artificial intelligence (AI) will eventually justify the huge sums of capital pouring into the sector. Yet, concerns have grown over less-than-commensurate returns and high market volatility amid reports that OpenAI may defer its long-awaited public offer of equity.

All this suggests that the breakneck pace of today's AI boom may not be sustainable. Goldman Sachs projects capital spending of $5.3 trillion by hyperscalers between 2025 and 2030, much of it in AI chips and data centres.

Should today's AI narrative falter or investment plans go awry, though, it may prompt investors to look anew at AI latecomers like India.

While Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta inv...