Gina Raimondo warns against isolationist AI strategies

Gina Raimondo spent four years as the US official in charge of keeping advanced chips out of rival hands. Now she is making the case that AI is too big for any one country to handle by itself.

Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi on October 13, 2026, the former Commerce Secretary argued that countries and companies need to cooperate to manage the economic and security risks posed by artificial intelligence. Her central message was blunt: national isolationism is not a workable strategy.

What Raimondo said in New Delhi

Raimondo, who now serves as Chair and CEO of RAISE US, pressed for shared standards and common safety measures for AI. Her reasoning was straightforward. No single nation, and no single company, can effectively manage these technologies alone.

She also pointed to the deepening relationship between the US and India as a template. The two countries have been working more closely on AI and semiconductors, and Raimondo framed that partnership as a powerful model for cooperative governance at a moment when the technology is moving fast.

Compete and cooperate, at the same time

The New Delhi remarks built on an op-ed Raimondo published in TIME on October 1, 2026. In that piece, she laid out a two-track approach to China: the US could compete with Beijing on AI while also cooperating with it on shared risks.

The risks she flagged were specific. They included vulnerabilities built into AI models themselves and the governance of autonomous systems.

The record behind the message

Raimondo served as Commerce Secretary from 2021 to 2025. During that stretch, the US AI Safety Institute was established under her watch, giving the federal government a dedicated body for studying and testing AI risks.

Her department also implemented the CHIPS Act. That law aimed to strengthen domestic semiconductor manufacturing and came paired with export controls on advanced chips, measures effectively directed at countries like China.

Since leaving government, Raimondo has turned her attention to the labor side of the AI story. Under her leadership, RAISE US has raised $500 million from major technology companies, including Anthropic, OpenAI, Amazon, and Microsoft.

That money is earmarked for workforce retraining programs across various states.

Why the cooperation pitch matters

Raimondo singled out AI and semiconductors as areas where the US and India are already working together. If that partnership deepens, businesses involved in chip production and AI development in both markets could draw more interest from investors and policymakers alike.

The $500 million commitment to RAISE US shows that leading AI developers are willing to put money behind managing the technology’s economic disruption.

What to watch

The biggest test is China. Raimondo’s compete-and-cooperate framework depends on both sides being willing to talk about model vulnerabilities and autonomous systems without letting broader tensions derail the conversation. Export controls on advanced chips remain in place.

Another thing to track is whether the US-India model she praised produces concrete governance outcomes, such as joint standards or coordinated safety testing.