India Hosts Global Leaders and Tech Moguls at AI Impact Summit
NEW DELHI: A global artificial intelligence summit opened in New Delhi on Monday, with representatives of more than 60 countries scheduled to discuss the use and regulation of AI with industry leaders and investors.
Overview of the Summit
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is hosted by the Indian government’s IndiaAI Mission — an initiative worth in excess of $1 billion, launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2024 to develop the AI ecosystem in the country.
Over five days of sessions and an accompanying exhibition featuring 300 companies at Bharat Mandapam — the venue of the 2023 G20 summit — participating leaders are expected to sign a declaration outlining a “shared roadmap for global AI governance and collaboration.”
Key Attendees
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will attend the summit on Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron, expressed pride in the event, stating it showcases India’s rapid advancement in science and technology, contributing significantly to global development.
Among the 20 heads of state scheduled to attend are:
- Emmanuel Macron (France)
- Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Brazil)
- Pedro Sanchez (Spain)
- Petteri Orpo (Finland)
- Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan (Abu Dhabi’s crown prince)
Tech moguls such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, are also expected to participate.
India’s Strategic Goals
The summit provides India, the world’s most populous country, with a platform to steer cooperation and AI regulation between the West and the Global South, while showcasing its technological advancements.
According to Anwesha Sen, assistant program manager for technology and policy at Takshashila Institution, India aims to:
- Advocate for sovereign AI and develop inclusive, population-scale solutions.
- Establish international collaborations prioritizing AI diffusion in sectors like healthcare and agriculture.
- Showcase how Indian startups utilize frameworks like digital public infrastructure to bridge various sectors.
Historical Context
This is the fourth gathering dedicated to AI development. Previous summits were held in:
- UK in 2023
- South Korea in 2024
- France in 2025
Impact on AI Adoption in India
The summit is expected to accelerate the adoption of AI in India, as noted by Nikhil Pahwa, digital rights activist and founder of MediaNama. He compared it to the Digital India initiative launched in 2015 to enhance digital government services.
Pahwa stated, “A summit like this, with significant government bandwidth, prioritizes AI for ministries and state governments, fostering AI execution-specific thinking, and increasing adoption across governance.”
He emphasized that the agenda and India’s role in global AI are secondary to the speed of adoption, reflecting how previous initiatives have increased digitization and technology adoption in governance.
