AI Impact Summit brings global leaders to India as New Delhi positions itself as AI governance hub

AI Impact Summit: Where AI Grows Up

From CES and Mobile World Congress to IFA Berlin, global tech events focus on commercial innovation. But the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi operates at a different layer - governance. With leaders like Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, Satya Nadella, Jensen Huang and global policymakers in attendance, the focus is on safety norms, funding commitments, bilateral agreements and defining AI guardrails - not product launches. Tech360's Ishaan Singh explains why this summit could reshape the global AI power map - and why India is positioning itself at the center of that conversation.

India AI Impact Summit 2026 starts tomorrow in New Delhi: What it means for India

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 kicks off tomorrow, February 16, in New Delhi, bringing together global technology architects, policymakers and industry leaders under the Government of India's IndiaAI Mission. Among the many distinguished international participants are Erik Ekudden, Chief Technology Officer, Ericsson; Tony Blair, Executive Chairman, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change; Shobana Kamineni, Executive Chairperson, Apollo HealthCo; Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCLTech; Prof. Alison Noble, Professor of Engineering, University of Oxford; and Natalie Black, Group Director (Infrastructure and Connectivity) and Executive Board Member, Ofcom. The Economic Times will provide comprehensive on-ground coverage of the summit. The wait is almost over. From February 16 to February 20, New Delhi will host the India AI Impact Summit 2026, a five-day global gathering that brings artificial intelligence to the forefront of policy, innovation and enterprise transformation. At a time when AI is reshaping industries and governance frameworks worldwide, the summit arrives at a pivotal moment. Organised under the Government of India's IndiaAI Mission, the summit is structured as more than a conventional technology conference. It is a curated platform where infrastructure leaders, policymakers, researchers and industry decision-makers converge to examine how AI systems can be responsibly scaled across sectors. The conversations will span public digital infrastructure, connectivity, healthcare, sustainability, research ecosystems and regulatory alignment. The Economic Times will be on the ground in New Delhi, delivering full coverage across the five days, tracking key announcements, capturing insights from global participants and unpacking what the discussions mean for India's AI trajectory and the broader international landscape. This year's summit features a diverse international presence. Among the many prominent attendees are Erik Ekudden, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Ericsson; Tony Blair, Executive Chairman, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change; Shobana Kamineni, Executive Chairperson, Apollo HealthCo; Roshni Nadar Malhotra, Chairperson, HCLTech; Alison Noble, Professor of Engineering, University of Oxford; and Natalie Black, Group Director (Infrastructure and Connectivity) and Executive Board Member, Ofcom, among many others from global technology, academia, enterprise and regulatory bodies. Their participation reflects the breadth of the summit's scope. Artificial intelligence today influences telecom networks, healthcare systems, digital infrastructure, public policy and enterprise strategy. Bringing together voices from each of these domains ensures that the dialogue remains grounded in real-world complexity rather than abstract potential. A central thematic focus of the summit is "People, Planet and Progress," highlighting the role AI can play in sustainable growth and long-term societal resilience. The framing signals that conversations will extend beyond productivity gains toward broader developmental and environmental considerations. As AI capabilities accelerate, questions of responsible deployment and inclusive access are increasingly shaping global discourse. Over five days, the summit will host plenary discussions, curated exchanges and ecosystem showcases designed to foster collaboration rather than isolated commentary. The aim is to connect global expertise with India's scale and digital infrastructure strengths, creating pathways for shared learning and practical implementation. For India, the summit reinforces its emerging role as a convener in the global AI conversation. With one of the world's largest digital user bases and expanding investments in AI capability, the country represents both a significant market and a testing ground for large-scale innovation. Hosting international leaders in New Delhi underscores India's intent to actively shape the direction of AI governance and adoption. As the India AI Impact Summit 2026 begins tomorrow, attention turns to the conversations that will unfold over the next five days. The Economic Times will bring readers comprehensive coverage, offering insight into the ideas, collaborations and perspectives that could define the next phase of AI impact. Follow https://ai.economictimes.com/ai-summit for comprehensive coverage.

AI Summit 2026: Open AI CEO Sam Altman says India has all ingredients to be a full-stack AI leader

Sam Altman sees India as a future AI leader. He highlights India's tech talent, national strategy, and optimism about AI. OpenAI is committed to building AI in India. The company plans to expand AI literacy, infrastructure, and integration into workflows. India's democracy will shape AI's future. New Delhi, India has "all the ingredients to be a full-stack AI leader", Sam Altman said ahead of his visit to the country for the Global AI Impact Summit, citing its tech talent, national strategy and optimism about the technology's potential. Calling India the world's largest democracy, OpenAI CEO wrote in TOI that the country combines homegrown expertise with a policy push to deploy AI at scale. Also read: India plans AI 'data city' on staggering scale Referring to the government's IndiaAI Mission, he said it is designed to expand compute capacity, support startups and accelerate multilingual applications in healthcare, agriculture and public services to ensure AI becomes "an essential tool for hundreds of millions of people across India". Altman noted India's rapid adoption of AI tools, saying the country now has "100 million weekly active users", the second-largest base after the US. India also has "the largest number of students on ChatGPT worldwide" and ranks fourth globally in the use of Prism, OpenAI's free research and collaboration tool. "India, the world's largest democracy, has all the ingredients to be a full-stack AI leader: optimism about what AI can do for the country, homegrown tech talent, and a national strategy for how to incorporate the technology more widely," he wrote. He stressed that widening AI's benefits requires progress on "access, adoption, and agency". "Access is the admission ticket; without it, people and institutions cannot participate fully in the AI era. Adoption is putting AI to work in classrooms, workplaces, and public services. Agency is what turns access and adoption into impact by giving people the ability and confidence to use AI to learn faster, build more, and make better decisions," he said. "When the three align, more people can participate not just as users of AI, but as builders and beneficiaries of the growth it enables." Warning against uneven gains, Altman said, "If AI access and adoption are uneven, AI's upside will be uneven, too", and added that a "capability overhang" risks concentrating productivity and economic gains if left unaddressed. Also read: India AI Summit: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang cancels trip to New Delhi "OpenAI is committed to doing its part to help build AI in India, with India, and for India," he said, adding that the company has made its tools available for free to widen access. He outlined three priorities: scaling AI literacy, building computing and energy infrastructure, and integrating AI into real workflows. "Infrastructure is destiny," he said. Stressing safeguards, Altman added, "None of this works without trust," and said, "If we want AI to expand opportunity, safety and reliability have to keep pace with capability". Altman said OpenAI recently brought together more than 200 nonprofit leaders across four Indian cities to help them use ChatGPT, opened its first office in Delhi last August and plans to expand further this year. "We will soon be announcing new ways of partnering with the Indian government to put access to AI and its benefits within reach for more people across the country," he said. "AI will help define India's future, and India will help define AI's future. And it will do so in a way only a democracy can," Altman added.

AI Impact Summit: India gears up for global dialogue on Artificial Intelligence

New Delhi: India is set to host the AI Impact Summit, a high-profile gathering of global leaders and industry heavyweights in Artificial Intelligence - a technology widely seen as one of the biggest disruptors since the advent of electricity. The summit, at the grand 'Bharat Mandapam' from February 16-20, will bring together policymakers, industry leaders and technology innovators at a time when nations are racing to define their AI agenda. Also read: French president Emmanuel Macron, Bazil's Lula to attend AI Impact Summit in Delhi For India, the event is as much about signalling capability as it is about intent - showcasing its deep talent pool, expanding digital public infrastructure and growing startup ecosystem, while positioning itself as a key architect of responsible, scalable and inclusive AI solutions for the world. Artificial intelligence or AI has moved well beyond research labs and boardroom buzzwords -- it is reshaping healthcare delivery, transforming agriculture, recalibrating financial markets, redefining education systems and rewriting corporate strategy, even as it alters the very nature of work and, increasingly, everyday life. For India, the global summit underlines the nation's intent to not merely be a participant, but a key architect in shaping the rules, standards and opportunities of the AI age. At its core lies the ambition to secure a seat at the global high table of technology leadership and help shape the next phase of Artificial Intelligence development. Also read: Hotel rates swing as Delhi plays the grand host "The key message we want to send is that whatever happens with AI needs to be human-centric and inclusive. There needs to be democratic access to AI resources, and it needs to be done in a way where people are at the centre of this process," IT Secretary S Krishnan told PTI. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, many global leaders are scheduled to attend the AI Impact Summit, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Lula da Silva - the presence of these heads of state underscores the high-level international engagement and interest around the AI agenda. Ministerial delegations from over 45 countries would be participating in the summit. The UN Secretary General and senior officials from several international organisations will also join the deliberations. Prime Minister Modi will address the Summit, visit the Expo, and engage closely with the CEOs. The event will be closely watched globally as it unfolds, given that some of the biggest names shaping the tech narrative are slated to be part of it. Also read: India plans AI 'data city' on staggering scale While earlier global gatherings - including the UK's AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park (2023), the Seoul Summit (2024), and the Paris meet (2025) - placed significant emphasis on frontier risks, safety guardrails and voluntary commitments, India is widening the lens to foreground AI's developmental impact and real-world applications that can drive economic growth, social inclusion and sustainability. In essence, People, Planet and Progress. India is the architect of one of the world's largest digital public infrastructures, which has drawn global recognition, and is home to a fast-growing startup ecosystem. Backed by the IndiaAI Mission's push for compute capacity, datasets and skilling, the summit will signal New Delhi's strategy for harnessing Artificial Intelligence while balancing rapid innovation with appropriate safeguards. Governments, captains of the global tech industry, researchers, startups, students and citizens from across the world will tune in to high-voltage deliberations for a peek into the future and what it would look like in the AI era. Seven thematic working groups, co-chaired by representatives from the Global North and Global South, will present concrete deliverables, including proposals for AI Commons, trusted AI tools, shared compute infrastructure, and sector-specific compendiums of AI use cases. Power-packed sessions, over 700 planned over five days, will address AI safety, governance, ethical use, data protection and India's approach to sovereign AI, including the development of indigenous foundation models for strategic sectors. The summit will have deep dives into how AI is impacting professions and industries, the new skill requirements for the evolving job market, and the role of AI in supporting farmers, small businesses and individuals. Also read: Top leaders of at least 20 countries set to attend AI Impact summit As automation reshapes industries, workforce readiness will come under the spotlight. India has one of the youngest workforces in the world, with over 65 per cent of the population under 35, giving the nation a substantial edge in the new era. Given the favourable demographic profile, the tech-savvy talent base can be trained and adapted for AI-driven industries, creating a foundation for innovation, digital services, and future-ready jobs. Technology stocks have, in recent months, turned volatile, even nervous, amid concerns that advances in Artificial Intelligence tools could disrupt traditional outsourcing and software services models. Reskilling initiatives, AI-focused training programmes and the broader implications for India's vast IT services sector are likely to feature prominently in the discussions in the coming days. Recent amendment to IT rules and FAQs around AI-generated content and labelling is the huge talking point in the industry at the moment, as is increased accountability of social media platforms and AI tool providers. The summit will offer insights into India's approach to tackling deepfakes and AI misinformation. Unlike the EU's regulation-heavy AI Act or the US' market-driven approach, India has opted, and indeed advocated, for an innovation-first approach. A development-first model focused on scaling benefits across emerging economies. "Concerns of each society and each country are different in where the negative impact could lie, and so we need to understand that our approach to regulate AI will depend on the objective situations we find ourselves in. "If we need to legislate and regulate, we can do it quickly and do it in a way that does not impact innovation. Which is why we say innovation-first is the approach, we stand ready to regulate when the need arises, and to the extent possible, we will use existing legislation and regulations," Krishnan said. Also read: NVIDIA, Google, OpenAI among 400 exhibitors at India AI Expo The India AI Impact Summit 2026 will be the first global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South. India has consistently championed the voice of developing economies in digital policy forums. The summit will push for equitable access to AI resources and fair rule-making. Having cemented its reputation with digital public infrastructure like UPI and Aadhaar, the attention now shifts to the summit to see how the country can extend that storied legacy to the realm of Artificial Intelligence and set the global benchmarks for responsible AI at scale. Host India expects that the event will build consensus on key issues around Artificial Intelligence (AI), particularly spotlighting the inclusion agenda and democratisation of AI resources. A joint declaration, a framework for responsible AI deployment in developing economies, or a roadmap for shared research and compute infrastructure would be keenly watched. The summit has a blockbuster lineup of CEOs headlined by Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google), Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI), Demis Hassabis (CEO of DeepMind Technologies), Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO), Brad Smith (Microsoft president) and many others. The collective presence of these influential tech voices under one roof elevates the summit proceedings to a centre of gravity for global tech deliberations. Audiences will keep a close eye on frontier AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic) and leading players (Microsoft, Google) for cues and company-related updates and announcements. Indian startup founders building indigenous models will share the summit stage, highlighting the country's growing role in the AI stack. Also read: AI will usher a golden age of Dum Pukht In preparation for the India AI Impact Summit 2026, 12 Indian AI start-ups selected under the Foundation Model Pillar recently engaged in a roundtable chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and presented their ideas and work. These startups are working in a diverse set of areas, including Indian language foundation models, multilingual LLMs, speech-to-text, text-to-audio and text-to-video; 3D content using generative AI for e-commerce, marketing, and personalised content creation; engineering simulations, material research and advanced analytics for data-driven decision-making across industries; healthcare diagnostics and medical research, among others. As the world navigates twin realities of AI's transformative promise and fears around disruptive potential, the India AI Impact Summit 2026 arrives as more than a global-scale event. The deliberations from Bharat Mandapam will influence how AI is built, governed and deployed across the world in the years ahead.

Sam Altman Bets Big On India As Next Full-Stack AI Powerhouse

India Set to Shape AI's Future, Says Sam Altman Ahead of Global AI Impact Summit Visit OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said India is uniquely positioned to emerge as a 'full-stack AI leader', citing its deep technology talent, national strategy, and strong public optimism toward artificial intelligence. Writing ahead of his visit to the Global AI Impact Summit, Altman noted that the world's largest democracy combines homegrown expertise with a policy framework aimed at deploying AI at scale. He pointed to the government's IndiaAI Mission as a key driver, designed to expand compute capacity, support startups, and accelerate multilingual applications across healthcare, agriculture, and public services. The goal, he said, is to make an 'essential tool for hundreds of millions of people'.

India's AI Moment: From promise to public impact

India is set to host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026, aiming to redefine AI leadership by focusing on development impact and human well-being. The summit, anchored in People, Planet, and Progress, will explore AI's role in achieving Viksit Bharat 2047, emphasizing inclusive growth and responsible deployment across sectors like education and governance. As India prepares to host the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 from February 16-20 in New Delhi, the moment invites both reflection and resolve. This Summit is not merely another global convening on artificial intelligence; it has the potential to become a turning point in India's transformative path to 2047. Significantly, it will also be the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, symbolically and substantively repositioning the locus of AI discourse from technology dominance to development impact. Anchored in three foundational sutras -- People, Planet, and Progress -- the India-AI Impact Summit reflects an unmistakably Indian framing of AI: one that foregrounds human well-being, environmental sustainability, and inclusive economic advancement. At a time when global debates around AI are often polarized between unchecked techno-optimism and deep ethical anxiety, India's approach offers a pragmatic middle path -- ambitious yet grounded, innovative yet responsible. AI as an Enabler of Viksit Bharat Artificial Intelligence is rapidly emerging as a key enabler of India's development journey. From strengthening governance systems to improving public service delivery, AI holds the promise of inclusive growth at population scale. Under the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047, AI is positioned not as a luxury technology, but as a decisive lever to bridge growth gaps across sectors and regions. India's unique linguistic, cultural, and socio-economic diversity gives it a distinctive advantage in advancing multilingual and multimodal AI systems. Solutions developed for India's complexity are, by definition, solutions for the world. The Summit's focus on translating global conversations into development outcomes aligned with national priorities, particularly through the IndiaAI Mission and the Digital India initiative, underscores this intent. From Global Dialogue to Ground-Level Impact The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 seeks to strengthen multilateral cooperation while advancing people-centric AI frameworks relevant to governance, the economy, and society. This orientation is critical. AI's real test is not its technical sophistication but its ability to improve lives -- whether by enhancing agricultural productivity, improving healthcare access, enabling financial inclusion, or strengthening state capacity. Estimates suggest that AI adoption could add $500-600 billion to India's GDP by 2035, contributing nearly 30-35% of the required growth acceleration envisaged by NITI Aayog. With its vast STEM workforce and robust digital public infrastructure, India could potentially capture 10-15% of the global AI value opportunity. Yet, realizing this promise requires sustained investments in skills, infrastructure, and institutional capacity. Education, Skills, and the AI-Ready Citizen One of the most consequential arenas of AI deployment is education. India's integration of AI tools and curricula across school and higher education systems -- aligned with NEP 2020 -- signals a strategic recognition that AI literacy is foundational to future readiness. Platforms such as DIKSHA 2.0 and AI-driven applications like TARA aim to enable personalized learning, adaptive assessment, and enhanced teacher support. However, a rights-based approach to AI in education is essential. Without addressing infrastructure gaps -- particularly reliable internet connectivity and digital access in rural and underserved areas -- AI risks widening, rather than narrowing, the digital divide. Equitable AI deployment must therefore go hand in hand with investments in last-mile connectivity and digital inclusion. AI literacy, moreover, is not merely about learning tools. It is about preparing students for evolving job markets where digital fluency and AI-related skills will increasingly define employability. Governance, Ethics, and Trust As AI systems increasingly shape public decision-making, AI governance has become indispensable. Transparent rules and ethical frameworks are essential to ensure responsible and trustworthy use of AI in the public sector. The Economic Survey's proposal of a public "AI OS" platform, analogous to UPI or Aadhaar, is particularly compelling. By democratizing access to AI capabilities through open and interoperable public infrastructure, India can lower entry barriers for startups, researchers, and state agencies alike -- fostering innovation while safeguarding public interest. The Role of Academia and the Road Ahead For academia, the India-AI Impact Summit is a call to action. Universities, Institutes of eminence, and research institutions must play a central role in shaping trustworthy AI ecosystems -- through interdisciplinary research, ethical leadership, and talent development. Collaboration between academia, industry, startups, and global partners will be critical to overcoming constraints in high-end R&D investment and workforce skilling. Ultimately, the significance of the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 lies in its aspiration to redefine AI leadership -- not in terms of who builds the most powerful models, but who deploys AI most responsibly, inclusively, and impactfully. If India succeeds in this endeavour, the Summit will be remembered as the moment when AI moved from promise to public purpose -- and when India decisively shaped the global AI narrative on its own terms. The author is Author and Director IIM Kozhikode

AI must be human-centric; democratic in tech access: IT Secy ahead of mega summit

India is preparing to host the AI Impact Summit 2026. The nation's key message is that artificial intelligence must be human-centric and inclusive. IT Secretary S Krishnan stated that AI should drive global economic growth, benefiting all regions. The summit will foster discussions on AI governance, safety, and economic progress. New Delhi: Ahead of the AI Impact Summit, IT Secretary S Krishnan has said the key message India wants to send to the world is that artificial intelligence must remain human-centric and inclusive, with democratic access to AI resources. In an interview with PTI, Krishnan said AI should be a positive force for the global economy, with the potential to drive growth across all parts of the world, including India and the Global South. "The key message that we want to send is that whatever happens with AI needs to be human-centric and inclusive. There needs to be a democratic access to AI resources, and it needs to be done in a way that people and humans are at the centre of this process," Krishnan said. As countries prepare for deeper AI-adoption across sectors, India is positioning itself as a voice for equitable growth in the emerging technology landscape. According to Krishnan, the broader goals are to ensure that AI becomes a truly inclusive technology, with the benefits of prosperity reaching all. India is all set to host the India AI Impact Summit 2026, positioning the country at the centre for critical global conversations on AI governance, safety and economic growth. The summit will bring together policymakers, industry leaders and technology innovators at a time when nations are racing to define the AI agenda. Krishnan underlined that AI must be leveraged as a "positive impetus" for the global economy, capable of putting the world on a higher growth trajectory. The summit, he said, is aimed at fostering a meeting of minds among nations on how to approach a technology likely to shape global progress over the coming years. "We need to look at it as a huge positive impetus to the overall economy, and the possibility of using AI, of leveraging this technology, to see growth across the world, including India, including the rest of the Global South, so that it becomes truly an inclusive technology, which puts the world on a higher growth trajectory, with benefits of prosperity reaching everybody," Krishnan said. He noted that while investment announcements and partnerships could emerge from the mega gathering, the summit is a platform to deepen global understanding of AI, assess its impact on humanity, and deliberate on the steps needed to maximise its positive and beneficial effects for all. "It is a summit to expand our understanding of AI. It's a summit to expand how we believe AI will impact humankind, and what is it that we need to do to make sure that the beneficial and positive impact of AI is expanded to the extent possible," Krishnan said. He noted that the India AI mission supports indigenous foundational models. "...foundational models include some large language models, some small language models, multimodal models, Vision models, quantitative models, and a range of models. And as you're aware, the Prime Minister interacted with 12 startups and research institutions which were working on their models...in the coming week, we should see unveiling of some of the models, some of the work that has been done under the India mission," the IT Ministry's top bureaucrat said. Krishnan noted that India has adopted an "innovation-first" approach in AI, while remaining prepared to regulate swiftly, if needed. Wherever possible, existing laws and regulatory frameworks would be leveraged, an approach also recommended by the Principal Scientific Adviser-led AI governance group. "Each society, each country, does it in a way that suits its objective situation. And I think India's approach is what is best suited for our own needs," Krishnan said, adding that "we will legislate when the need arises, and we stand ready to put together a law, if need be, at short notice". The summit presents a strong opportunity to highlight the work being undertaken by Indian companies and startups, as well as the depth of research and policy thinking that has emerged in the AI space in recent years, he pointed out. "It's a wonderful occasion for people to converge on one platform and one forum to talk about issues which concern them...that should result in valuable outcomes," he said.

India can play a key role in shaping global AI rulebook: Wipro's Bartoletti - The Economic Times

India's leadership matters in this sphere as the country is home to over 1.4 billion people, generates roughly 20% of the world's data, has the second-largest AI talent base globally and more than 700 million digitally connected citizens, she said at the summit.India's combination of scale, digital public infrastructure and AI talent gives it an outsized role in shaping global norms for responsible AI, said Ivana Bartoletti, vice-president, global chief privacy and AI governance officer, Wipro. India's leadership matters in this sphere as the country is home to over 1.4 billion people, generates roughly 20% of the world's data, has the second-largest AI talent base globally and more than 700 million digitally connected citizens, she said at the summit. "India's experience with digital infrastructure shows something critical to the world, and that is that large-scale technology adoption is possible when two conditions align: first, when society is open to transformation, and second, when institutional capacity supports and regulates the transformation," Bartoletti said. "This alignment is rare and is very powerful. India's technological approach reflects an ambition to move from risk categorisation towards life-cycle accountability." She demystified the notion that governance is a constraint on growth. "It is the architecture that allows growth to be sustainable and provide long-term value. The countries that succeed will not be the ones that move fastest alone. They will be the ones that move fastest with trust," Bartoletti said. She said AI will reward countries and companies that can build strong institutions around it, not just cutting-edge models. "The question is not whether AI will transform our society - it will. The question is whether governance systems can evolve from compliance structures into strategic capabilities," Bartoletti said. Further, she said that the global AI debate has moved beyond hypothetical threats to the reality of "super intelligent" systems increasingly embedded in economic and public infrastructure. "When we speak about super-intelligent AI, we should not imagine science fiction. We should observe acceleration," she said, pointing to foundation models that can design molecules, accelerate drug discovery and power autonomous agents executing "countless workloads." Bartoletti also highlighted the "systemic stress" caused by widespread misinformation and synthetic media that "disproportionately affects women," in addition to this innovation. Concerns about labour displacement "across multiple sectors" and the impact of AI companions on vulnerable groups have workers wondering about their future and job security. "AI is not just software. It is the semiconductor supply chain, rare earth materials, hyperscalers, data centres, energy grid, infrastructure, geopolitics," she said, adding that competition is now "about compute capacity, sovereign infrastructure and strategic autonomy," not only better models. She said this ecosystem demands governance that anticipates interdependencies, saying that "nations must go beyond being consumers of AI to co-architects of its evolution." Risk management to AI-readiness The governance expert noted that in the age of accelerated technological advancements, risk management alone won't suffice. Outlining a four-part approach, Bartoletti said the first step is setting a clear direction before building capacity, with governments defining what transformations they seek from AI, what risks are "totally unacceptable" and which sectors should be prioritised . "The shift we need is very clear: from abstract risk management to accountable deployment, from principle statement to institutional readiness, from regulation as reaction to governance as capability," she said. Second, she called for "designing for trust" through transparent data flows, documented model development, human oversight mechanisms, and assigned responsibility for AI-driven outcomes, instead of trying to retrofit protections after systems go live. "Capability without direction creates volatility," she said, adding that retrofitting is costly and destabilising. Third, she framed inclusion as a performance issue rather than only a moral imperative, arguing that diverse datasets, design teams and regulatory inputs help reduce systemic bias and make AI systems more resilient and effective over time. Fourth, democratisation of AI, must go "beyond access," she cautioned. "It does not just mean giving everybody access to powerful tools. It is participation in design, governance and standard setting," Bartoletti said, as AI becomes an embedded layer of economic and institutional life. True democratisation of AI requires countries to move from being mere consumers of imported technologies to "co-architects of its evolution," investing in open ecosystems, interoperability and capacity-building programmes for regulators and enterprises alike.

'India important to AI': Tech leaders express confidence ahead of AI-India Impact Summit 2026

Ahead of the anticipated Global AI Impact Summit in New Delhi next week, industry leaders have praised India's AI policy ecosystem and described the country as integral to AI. Vishal Sikka expressed optimism about breakthroughs, infrastructure, talent and safety discussions. Rorry Daniels highlighted trust, safety and emerging AI guidelines. Ahead of the anticipated Global AI Impact Summit which New Delhi is set to host next week, industry leaders have praised India's AI policy ecosystem and described the country as integral to AI. In a video posted by the Indian Embassy in the US, Vishal Sikka, Founder and CEO of Vianai Systems, expressed his optimism ahead of the Global AI Impact Summit. "I'm really excited about India AI Impact Summit happening in Delhi next week. You know, there is so much development in AI every day. There is some or the other breakthrough happening somewhere and it has so many implications, so many consequences. And it is so important to India and India is so important to AI that this is really going to be, I think, the best AI conference that has ever happened in the last several years, all the way from the, you know, impact of AI on all the different industries, the, creating AI, the talent that we have in India and how we can build applications of AI, how we can build AI itself in the infrastructure for AI, to all the serious issues around AI from energy to availability of talent to the safety of AI," Sikka said. "Imagine having billions of, swarms of billions of AI agents doing their thing and ensuring the safety of these things, the security of these things, the ethics of AI. There are so many fundamental societal issues to be discussed. And so many different people from all walks of life are converging in Delhi next week. I'm really excited about it and looking forward to it," he added. Rorry Daniels, Managing Director of Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI) shared her excitement ahead of the AI Impact Summit and said,"I'm so excited to travel to Delhi next week for the Global AI Impact Summit where the Policy Institute will be partnering with the United Nations to hold an event on trust and safety in the AI ecosystems. We're particularly excited to learn how India's emerging AI guidelines and policy ecosystems could provide a model for the rest of emerging economies in Asia. I look forward to the summit and to seeing the great results." The upcoming India-AI Impact Summit, the first-ever global AI Summit to be hosted in the Global South, from Feb 16-20 will be anchored in three guiding "sutras" of People, Planet and Progress and structured around seven key "chakras," Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday. 20 leaders from around the globe will participate in the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 to be held in the national capital from February 16 to 20. Ministerial delegations from over 45 countries will participate in the Summit, with the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Senior Officials from several international organisations joining the deliberations. At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several Heads of State and Government are scheduled to attend the Summit. The India-AI Impact Summit will be held from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, marking the first global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South. Designed as a five-day programme covering policy, research, industry, and public engagement, the Summit is expected to bring together global leaders, policymakers, technology companies, innovators, and experts to deliberate on AI's role in governance, innovation, and sustainable development. The Summit builds on India's development-focused approach to AI, aligns with the India AI Mission and Digital India Initiative, and emphasises translating global AI discussions into practical, people-centric outcomes. The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 aims to foster dialogue on responsible AI governance, innovation ecosystems, digital public infrastructure, climate-conscious technology and equitable access to emerging technologies. The Summit is envisioned as a pivotal global platform to shape a future-oriented agenda for inclusive, responsible, and impactful AI, and it aims to move beyond high-level discussions to deliver tangible outcomes that support economic growth, social development, and the sustainable use of AI.

NVIDIA, Google, OpenAI among 400 exhibitors at India AI Expo

The India AI Impact Summit will be structured around three core pillars -- People, Planet and Progress and discussions will focus on employment and skilling, sustainable and energy-efficient AI, and economic as well as social development. New Delhi: Dominant AI ecosystem players Nvidia, Google and OpenAI are among 400 exhibitors who will participate at the five-day-long India AI Impact Expo 2026, a senior government official said on Thursday. Software Technology Parks of India (STPI), Director General, Arvind Kumar, told PTI that the expo will serve as a matchmaking for AI ecosystem players, where Indian innovators will also showcase their potential. "Leading AI ecosystem players, including NVIDIA, Google, and OpenAI, will be among 400 exhibitors at the India AI Impact Expo. Their top executives have also confirmed their participation. They will also hold meetings with Indian companies," he said. Kumar said over 100 countries have confirmed participation in the summit, which includes 50 ministerial-level delegations. He said that the preparation for the India AI Impact Summit and Expo started immediately after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the hosting of the next AI summit in India. "We have started work on the expo. The entire summit, comprising the expo, will be held between February 16th and 20th. Almost all the technology companies in the country are participating in this. Many government departments and ministries will also participate in it," he said. The expo will be held in an area of about 75,000 square metres in Pragati Maidan. Kumar said the expo will also host sessions to connect start-ups with investors. Around 700 sessions are planned during five days for discussion on AI and its impact. The India AI Impact Summit will be structured around three core pillars -- People, Planet and Progress and discussions will focus on employment and skilling, sustainable and energy-efficient AI, and economic as well as social development. It has seven thematic working groups, co-chaired by representatives from the Global North and Global South, that will present concrete deliverables, including proposals for AI Commons, trusted AI tools, shared compute infrastructure and sector-specific compendiums of AI use cases.

Why global AI leaders are flocking to the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi has emerged as a focal point for the world's leading artificial intelligence innovators and technology CEOs. With Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei among those attending, the event reflects how India's market dynamics are attracting global investment interest and signals the country's growing influence in shaping the future of AI. Next week, New Delhi will host one of the most consequential gatherings of technology leaders the world has seen. The India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled from February 16 to February 20 at Bharat Mandapam, has attracted a constellation of global figures from the artificial intelligence ecosystem. From the chief executives of global tech giants to founders of cutting-edge AI firms, the guest list reads like a who's who of the industry. Among those confirmed to attend are Google's Sundar Pichai, OpenAI's Sam Altman and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. Also expected are Anthropic's Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind's Demis Hassabis, Microsoft President Brad Smith, Meta's Chief AI Scientist Alexandr Wang and the CEO of Qualcomm Cristiano Amon. The scale of participation from key players in Silicon Valley and beyond is unprecedented for an AI event in the Global South. A central question arises when one surveys this lineup: why are so many global AI leaders converging on Delhi at this moment? The short answer lies in business strategy. As large technology companies pour hundreds of billions of dollars into building AI systems and platforms, the pressure to convert research and innovation into revenue has intensified. AI models are expensive to develop and train. To justify those investments, firms must secure customers and revenue streams that match the scale of their ambitions. In that context, India looks like a very attractive market. With a massive service economy and one of the world's largest populations of internet users, the country represents a vast potential base of customers for AI tools and enterprise solutions. India is often described as the back-office of the world, given its established position in global IT and business process services. In the age of AI, the familiar narrative is shifting rapidly. Global AI companies are now positioning themselves to serve Indian businesses, government agencies and developers rather than simply maintaining ceremonial ties. Their leaders are flying to New Delhi because their presence at a summit of this magnitude signals serious intent to engage with Indian policymakers and commercial partners. Their attendance is both a gesture of commitment and an investment in building trust with Indian stakeholders ahead of future deals and collaborations. Unlike markets such as the United States and China, India combines scale with openness to global technology platforms. The US remains a core revenue engine for most of these firms, while China's regulatory barriers limit access for many Western AI companies. India, therefore, stands out as a market where deep engagement could translate into significant enterprise adoption and commercial growth. But it is not only the demand from business users that is drawing interest. India's government is actively promoting AI deployment across sectors as part of broader development initiatives. The summit is being positioned not merely as a showcase but as a platform to align global innovation with India's strategic priorities in governance, economic growth and public service delivery. Sessions will span policy discussions, research panels and industry roundtables designed to accelerate AI adoption at scale. AI companies also see the opportunity to tap into India's rich data environment. With over 700 million internet users and a workforce increasingly versed in digital technologies, India generates a diversity of real-world data that is valuable for training and refining AI systems. This combination of data scale and human capital gives India a competitive advantage as a testbed for deploying AI solutions in complex multilingual and multimodal contexts. For firms like Anthropic and OpenAI, the focus is on establishing footholds in India's enterprise sector for tools such as AI code assistants and productivity platforms. For others like Google and Microsoft, the opportunity extends to education, cloud services and partnerships that embed AI into government-sector and commercial workflows. The summit, therefore, represents a pivot point where India's role in the global AI economy is being redefined. No longer confined to being a back-office destination for outsourcing and support services, the country is increasingly seen as a strategic arena where AI technology can be both deployed and shaped. The presence of global tech leaders underscores their belief that to succeed in the next phase of AI, they must have a strong presence in India and work with its ecosystem of businesses, researchers and regulators. Follow https://ai.economictimes.com/ai-summit for comprehensive coverage.

Ashwini Vaishnaw discusses India-US strategic ties with Gor; looks forward to strong US participation in AI Summit

India and the US are boosting strategic ties, emphasising semiconductors and electronics manufacturing. This collaboration follows a recent trade agreement. India is set to host the AI Impact Summit 2026, a major global event. The summit will gather leaders from governments, industry, and research to shape the future of artificial intelligence. New Delhi, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday met US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor and discussed strengthening of strategic ties between the two nations, with a focus on semiconductors and electronics manufacturing. In a post on X, Vaishnaw - Minister for Electronics and IT, Railways and Information and Broadcasting - said he looks forward to strong participation from the US in the AI Impact Summit 2026. "Good meeting with Mr. Sergio Gor, US Ambassador to India. Discussed strengthening our strategic ties, with a focus on semiconductors, electronics manufacturing and supply chain resilience," Vaishnaw said in the post as he shared photos from the meeting. The development comes within days of India-US reaching an agreement on tariffs, and ahead of the crucial India AI Impact Summit that New Delhi is hosting during February 16-20, 2026. India and the US on Saturday announced they have reached a framework for an interim trade agreement under which both sides will reduce import duties on a number of goods to boost two-way trade. According to a joint statement issued by both sides on February 7, 2026, on the framework for the first phase of the bilateral trade agreement, India has expressed its intention to purchase USD 500 billion of US energy products, aircraft and aircraft parts, precious metals, technology products and coking coal over the next five years. As the two nations made the big announcement, Vaishnaw said on Saturday that the Indian government is closely engaged with the US for electronics and IP-related matters. India is also set to take centre stage in global AI conversations next week as it hosts AI Impact Summit 2026 - the largest of the four global AI summits hosted so far (AI Safety Summit hosted by the UK, the AI Seoul Summit, and the AI Action Summit hosted by France). The much-awaited event - that has created quite a buzz - will reflect growing international focus on responsible, inclusive and impact-driven AI, as well as India's expanding role in shaping the global AI narrative. According to an official release earlier last week, the Summit has garnered strong interest from the global community, with over 35,000 registrations received ahead of the event, at the last count. Governments, industry leaders, researchers, civil society organisations and international institutions are set to actively participate in shaping the Summit's agenda. It is expected to see participation from over 100 countries, including 15 to 20 heads of government, 50-plus ministers from various countries, and 40-plus prominent global and Indian companies. Around 500 leading names from the global AI ecosystem, including innovators, researchers and chief technology officers, are expected to attend the mega event, which will feature a showcase of over 500 AI startups and host around 500 sessions alongside the main programme. The event will be closely followed globally, given that several influential figures shaping the global tech discourse are slated to participate in it. That list includes Jensen Huang, Founder and CEO, NVIDIA; Dario Amodei, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Anthropic; Brad Smith, President and Vice Chair, Microsoft; Demis Hassabis, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Google DeepMind; and Julie Sweet, Chair & CEO, Accenture, among others.

Global AI commons: India's most ambitious tech diplomacy pitch yet

Shift focus from AI safety talk to inclusive deployment at scale Every AI summit promises safety, guardrails, and responsible innovation. But, according to reports, the upcoming India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi is promising something that hasn't been proposed earlier - shared ownership in the era of AI. At the centre of that pitch is a proposal now being described as a "global AI commons" - an international framework where datasets, models, tools and compute infrastructure are treated less like corporate assets and more like shared public goods. According to a recent Financial Times report, India will push for global consensus around this idea at the summit, positioning it as a way to democratise access to AI for the Global South. If it sounds idealistic, it is. If it sounds necessary, it may be even more so. If you think about it and look around, the global AI economy today resembles a bit of an exclusive club. Where foundation models are largely built by a handful of companies in the US and China, trained on English-heavy datasets, and optimised for markets that can afford expensive compute infrastructure and subscriptions. Also read: 40000 GPUs not enough for India's AI ambitions, says IndiaAI chief This is where India's proposed global AI commons attempts to invert that hierarchy. Instead of each country building isolated sovereign AI stacks, the commons envisions a shared repository of resources. This will include multilingual datasets, open models, use-case libraries, and compute pools designed specifically for emerging economies. Various reports describe the concept as a way to create interoperable AI tools across sectors like education, agriculture and healthcare, ensuring that applications can be reused and adapted globally rather than reinvented locally. Think of it as open-source software - but for national-scale AI infrastructure. India's pitch for a global AI commons is not accidental. It is an extension of its digital public infrastructure push of the last decade or so. Examples like Aadhaar, UPI, and India Stack have proven that open, interoperable platforms can scale across populations and even borders. Also read: India AI Impact Summit: 5 major announcements you shouldn't miss Now New Delhi wants to replicate that model for AI-led infrastructure. By pooling datasets - especially multilingual and voice-first data from countries like India - participating nations could build AI systems that work for billions who don't interact primarily in English or text. India is also expected to propose a funding facility to support these shared resources, allowing countries to contribute data, compute or use-case development rather than building everything independently. The aim is simply to allow countries to build affordable, locally relevant AI that can be deployed in public services, education and rural economies across the Global South. This proposed global AI commons concept doesn't reject regulation or responsible AI - which has been the focus of recent global AI summits from Bletchley Park to Paris. Instead, it emphasises implementation: how AI can be deployed at scale for social and developmental outcomes. It also acknowledges a simple reality - most developing nations cannot afford to build frontier AI models or massive compute clusters on their own. A shared global infrastructure may be the only viable path. If this proposal gains traction, the upcoming India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi could mark a subtle shift in the global AI conversation. From the ones who lead the AI race to who gets to use AI at all.

India AI Impact Summit 2026: Why India's global south AI Summit changes everything

Global leaders, big tech chiefs and policy architects are en route to Delhi and the national capital is ready to host them from February 16th to 20th. This is not a diplomatic delegation nor a tycoon's wedding. This is a platform to define the coming decade, courtesy of AI. For the past few years, the global conversation on Artificial Intelligence has unfolded in polished halls across London, Washington and Brussels. The debates have largely centred on safety. Tech CEOs talk about guardrails for systems that do not yet exist. Policymakers ask what happens if machines outthink us. It is a valid concern. But it is also a debate shaped by countries where the basics already work. By hosting the India AI Impact Summit in the Global South, India is forcing a pivot. The focus shifts from what AI might do to us in the future to what AI must do for us right now. It is about whether AI can help a farmer in Vidarbha decide when to sow. Whether a diagnostic tool can run on a low-end smartphone in a clinic that loses power three times a day. Whether governance can become more transparent for 1.4 billion people. That is why the world is not just visiting Delhi this week. The world is paying attention. Also Read: India AI Impact Summit: 5 major announcements you shouldn't miss This is not a summit about who builds the biggest model. It is about who deploys AI at a population scale. Prabhu Ram, VP at CyberMedia Research, puts it bluntly: "While the Global North remains focused on AI safety and regulation, India is reframing the global conversation around utility." "The 'People, Planet, Progress' framing positions AI as Digital Public Infrastructure, shifting the debate from frontier risk to real-world outcomes in multilingual, resource-constrained environments," he adds. The framing matters. It positions AI not as a premium product to be sold, but as infrastructure. India has already proven this approach with Aadhaar for identity and UPI for payments. Now, the ambition is to extend that model toward "AI as a Public Good." Yogesh Brar, independent tech analyst and market insights expert, calls the summit a pragmatic pivot. "By hosting the first summit of this scale in the Global South, India is attempting to re-center the narrative on AI utility and deployment-led outcomes, rather than the North's focus on existential risk." This does not mean India dismisses safety. It means the risks being discussed are different. Not just hypothetical superintelligence, but deepfakes, misinformation, bias in local language systems, uneven access and energy consumption. Leaders from across Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia are attending. Sam Altman, Satya Nadella, and a delegation of over 100 US companies are here because the user base is here. In his recent column, Sam Altman wrote: "AI will help define India's future and India will help define AI's future." He pointed out that India has the second-largest user base for ChatGPT globally. He also wrote that "access is the admission ticket." But access without agency is meaningless. The US delegation, led by USISPF, recognises that India is moving from experimentation to execution. The conversation is no longer about testing AI in isolated pilots. It is about embedding it into workflows, public systems and businesses. Tarun Pathak of Counterpoint Research argues that India has the ingredients to lead AI application at scale: "a young, connected and ambitious population" combined with a digital-first mindset. For him, the focus is not on model supremacy but on enabling a startup ecosystem that solves local needs, particularly through multilingual and multimodal systems. Most Large Language Models are fluent in English and confident in everything else. They are trained on Western data, which carries Western biases and context. The summit showcases models such as BharatGen and Sarvam-1, which are not simply translated versions of Western systems. They are built from the ground up on Indian languages. Rishi Bal, CEO of BharatGen, makes it clear: "India's AI progress must be built on language access and contextual understanding." These systems are designed for deployment across citizen services, finance, healthcare and education. In that sense, multilingual AI is not a feature. It is the foundation. Tarun Pathak calls India the ultimate testing ground. If you can build an AI that navigates linguistic diversity where dialects shift every 100 kilometres, you build something robust enough for the rest of the world. India's sovereign AI push includes subsidised GPUs at roughly one dollar per hour. Tens of thousands are available. But as Abhishek Singh, CEO of the IndiaAI Mission, acknowledges, 40,000 GPUs are not enough when global companies operate clusters with more than half a million GPUs. The halving of compute subsidies in the 2026 Budget has raised questions about the gap between policy intent and hardware autonomy. Yogesh Brar notes a "persistent gap between policy intent and hardware autonomy." India still relies heavily on imported GPUs and global chip ecosystems. Tarun Pathak frames it differently. He sees a systematic plan toward ICT self-sufficiency. Domestic chip design initiatives under the semiconductor mission, projected expansion of data centre capacity from 960 MW to 9.2 GW by 2030 and the development of an India AI Stack signal long-term intent. You will hear a lot about the Stack. It consists of five layers: If one layer weakens, the system stalls. As Arun Jain, Chairman of Intellect Design Arena, puts it: "AI capability is no longer the constraint; reliability is. Enterprises do not hesitate because AI is weak; they hesitate because AI must earn the right to act." That may define the next phase of global AI more than any benchmark score. Also Read: India AI Impact Summit 2026: Date, location, list of attendees, where to buy tickets and more details The summit has also drawn strong advocacy for open source AI. Mark Surman, President of Mozilla, said: "Open source AI is your path to both economic and digital sovereignty." Raffi Krikorian, Mozilla's CTO, emphasised decentralisation and plurality across languages and cultures. If AI is to operate within democratic safeguards at the population scale, centralisation carries risks. Openness becomes not an ideological stance, but a structural safeguard. Nabiha Syed of the Mozilla Foundation added that imagination and creativity are not luxuries. They are safeguards. As AI reshapes culture, efficiency cannot be the only metric. Human stakes must remain central. This summit is an assertion of status. India is no longer just the back office of the world, nor simply a market to be harvested. It is attempting to influence how AI is defined for the billions who live outside the West. The challenges are massive: energy, chips and the sheer chaos of implementation. But as Yogesh Brar cautions, success will not be measured by investment announcements or footfall. It will be measured by whether AI deployments translate into measurable gains for underserved populations. If the India AI Impact Summit succeeds, that future will not be defined solely by the biggest models or the fastest chips. It will be defined by whether AI can function as public infrastructure, inclusive, multilingual, energy-aware and deployable at a population scale.

AI Impact Summit 2026: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says India will help define AI's future

'AI will help define India's future, and India will help define AI's future,' Altman stated. India is preparing to host the AI Impact Summit 2026 next week in New Delhi at Bharat Mandapam. Ahead of the event, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has highlighted India's growing importance in the global AI race. Writing in The Times of India before his visit, Altman described India as a possible 'full-stack AI leader.' He said the country has quickly become OpenAI's second-largest user base in the world, behind only the US. Altman also shared his idea of 'Democratic AI.' He believes India has the right mix of talent, large-scale data, and 'infectious optimism.' OpenAI opened its first office in Delhi last August. Altman said the company plans to expand its team and operations in India over the coming year. The expansion follows India reaching 100 million weekly active users on OpenAI platforms, driven primarily by a student population that has become ChatGPT's largest user group globally. Also read: OpenAI calls out DeepSeek for copying its model for self training: Here's what's happening 'AI will help define India's future, and India will help define AI's future,' Altman stated. 'And it will do so in a way only a democracy can.' To address what he calls a 'capability overhang,' where tools are available but people may lack the skills to use them fully, Altman suggested a three-part plan for India. First is Access, making sure that AI tools are available to everyone, no matter their income or education. Second is Adoption, bringing AI into everyday sectors such as schools, clinics, and small businesses. Third is Agency, helping people build AI skills so they can create solutions, not just consume them. Also read: Elon Musk criticises Anthropic, calls it misanthropic and evil: Here's why Altman's visit next week is expected to include talks with government leaders. These discussions may align with the IndiaAI Mission, a Rs 10,371 crore government initiative aimed at building local computing power and multilingual AI applications for healthcare and agriculture.

India AI Impact Summit 2026: Date, location, list of attendees, where to buy tickets and more details

The event will focus on AI policy, innovation and social impact, and visitor registration is free through the official website. India is set to host one of the world's largest technology gatherings this year as the AI Impact Summit 2026 gets underway in the national capital. The high-profile event will take place in New Delhi from February 16 to February 20. This summit will place India at the heart of global discussions on innovation, growth, and the responsible use of AI. According to the Indian government, this is the first major global AI event to be held in the Global South. World leaders, top technology CEOs, researchers, and leaders from Indian industries are expected to attend. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron will speak at the event on February 19. The AI Impact Summit is a global conference bringing together speakers from various countries, companies, startups, and research institutions. Some of the prominent topics of discussion include AI policy, research, and business innovation, with a heavy emphasis on societal impact. The summit shall go beyond mere discussion to actionable outcomes, especially in alignment with initiatives such as IndiaAI and Digital India. Also read: Lava Yuva Star 3 launched in India: Check price and specifications The summit is built around three foundational pillars called Sutras notably People, Planet, and Progress. These principles are operationalised through seven areas of cooperation called Chakras, which include: The AI Impact Summit 2026 will take place in Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, from February 16 to February 20, 2026. Also read: Samsung One UI 8.5 may release with Galaxy S26 series: Check features, eligible devices and everything else we know The India AI Impact Expo is spread across more than 70,000 square metres, where over 300 exhibitors from around 30 countries are expected to showcase their work. Furthermore, the summit will also feature competitions such as AI for ALL and AI by HER, which will highlight women-led innovation, while YUVAi will encourage young innovators between 13 and 21 years of age. With the upcoming AI Impact Summit, the government is aiming to translate AI discussions into practical results that align with national priorities. The conversations in the summit will cover how AI can be used in healthcare, agriculture, rural development, education, finance, governance, and public services. The government is also said to discuss its recent project 'AIKosh', which is a public AI platform similar to UPI to make AI resources more accessible. The idea is to provide shared computing power, data access, and tools to startups, researchers, and entrepreneurs. The government believes this approach will promote collaboration and reduce monopoly control in AI services. Tax incentives for data centres and partnerships between global companies and Indian institutions are also expected to be discussed. Also read: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 available with Rs 44,500 discount on this platform If you want to visit the AI Impact Summit 2026, then you can register yourself as a visitor on the AI Impact Summit website. The process is simple: Open your browser. Do note that the registration for the visitors is free. Here is a list of the global and Indian leaders attending the AI Impact Summit 2026:

USISPF expands US-India AI Ties at India AI Impact Summit 2026

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is shaping up to be a major moment in the evolving technology partnership between India and the United States. One clear signal of that shift is the scale of US industry participation being lined up for the event. The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) has confirmed that it will bring the largest US business delegation ever for an AI-focused summit in India. The move reflects growing alignment between American companies and Indian policymakers on how artificial intelligence should be built, governed and deployed at scale. The summit is being organised by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and will be held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from February 16 to 20, 2026. With its focus on people, planet, and progress, the event is expected to host discussions on AI systems that move beyond experimentation and into real-world use. According to government officials, this will be the first global AI summit of this scale to be hosted in the Global South. More than 35,000 participants from multiple countries have already registered for the event. As part of its engagement with the summit, USISPF has announced the formation of an AI Board Task Force. The task force is chaired by John Chambers, who currently serves as Chairman of USISPF. The initiative aims to strengthen AI ecosystems in both India and the United States, support large-scale deployment of AI systems, and encourage the adoption of governance frameworks centred on safety and accountability. Speaking in a USISPF press release, Chambers said the US-India partnership in artificial intelligence reflects a long-term strategic alignment between the two countries. He noted that the task force would draw on USISPF's experience in public-private collaboration to support responsible AI development across large populations. The task force's first major step will be leading a delegation of more than 100 US companies to the India AI Impact Summit. These companies are expected to engage with Indian policymakers, industry leaders and institutions on AI deployment, infrastructure and skills development. Also Read: Motorola Signature vs Oppo Find X9: Which flagship makes more sense in 2026?? USISPF has also confirmed its role as an official partner of the summit. As part of this partnership, the organisation will lead a delegation of over 120 senior executives from sectors including technology, manufacturing, logistics, and advanced services. The delegation will be co-chaired by Shantanu Narayen, Vice Chair of USISPF and Chair and CEO of Adobe, and Raj Subramaniam, Vice Chair of USISPF and President and CEO of FedEx. Executives expected to be part of the delegation include Borje Ekholm of Ericsson, Umesh Sachdev of Uniphore, Bipul Sinha of Rubrik, Raj Koneru of Kore.ai, Denis Dignam of Chemours, Brad Smith of Microsoft, and Hemant Taneja of General Catalyst, among others. USISPF will host a headline session on 'Scaling Trusted AI for 8 Billion+' during the summit. The session will focus on how governments and industry can work together to deploy AI systems that are aligned with safety, compatibility, and public needs. In addition, USISPF will organise a public-facing event at The Leela Palace, New Delhi on February 18. Discussions at the event will centre on AI infrastructure, workforce readiness, and deployment models tied to welfare and service delivery. The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is expected to see participation from more than 50 international ministers, 15 to 20 heads of state, and senior executives from global technology firms. Among the global leaders expected to attend are Sam Altman of OpenAI, Bill Gates, Sundar Pichai of Google and Alphabet, Jensen Huang of NVIDIA, Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm, Denim Hassabis of Google DeepMind and Cristiano Amon of Qualcomm. Indian participation is expected from leaders at Razorpay, Intel India, HCLTech, Infosys, along with Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, Sunil Bharti of Bharti Enterprises and Nandan Nilekani of Infosys.