India hosts first global AI summit in Global South with tech titans and 100 nations

India to set agenda for Global South through AI Summit

The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 will be held in New Delhi on February 19-20, marking the first global artificial intelligence summit hosted in the Global South. With participation from 100 countries, the event aims to position India as a key voice in shaping AI priorities for developing economies, with a focus on inclusive growth, social development and people-centric innovation. The India-AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February 19-20 in New Delhi - the first ever global artificial intelligence summit hosted in the Global South - will enable India to guide the future agenda for the developing economies. The summit will help chart a path towards a future where the transformative power of AI serves humanity, drives inclusive growth, fosters social development, and promotes people-centric innovations that protect the planet, officials said. The mega summit will have participation from 100 countries. While announcing the summit at the France AI Action Summit in Paris last February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had outlined India's agenda. "Artificial Intelligence is already writing the code for humanity in this century and there is a need for democratising technology, creating people-centric applications and addressing concerns related to cyber security, disinformation, and deep fakes," he had said. The PM had also pitched for making technology available to the Global South. "Governance is also about ensuring access to all, especially in the Global South. It is where the capacities are most lacking - be it compute power, talent, data, or the financial resources." The Delhi summit will be anchored in three guiding sutras: people, planet, and progress, which define how AI should serve humanity, safeguard the environment, and drive inclusive economic and social growth, one of the officials cited above said. These sutras will be operationalised through seven thematic chakras, or working groups, that structure the summit's deliberations and outcomes, the official added. The Human Capital Chakra will focus on equipping people with skills and literacy required for an AI-driven future, emphasising reskilling and inclusive workforce transitions. Inclusion for Social Empowerment will address linguistic, cultural, and contextual representation in AI systems to ensure they are inclusive by design and locally relevant. The Safe and Trusted AI Chakra will seek to advance transparent, accountable, and technology-enabled governance frameworks that can be adopted across regions. Resilience, Innovation and Efficiency will prioritise frugal, energy-efficient, and sustainable AI solutions suited for resource-constrained environments. The Science Chakra will seek to expand inclusive AI research ecosystems and global scientific collaboration, particularly in the Global South. Democratising AI Resources will focus on equitable access to datasets, compute, and foundational models, while AI for Economic Growth and Social Good will aim to scale proven AI applications across sectors such as healthcare, education, and agriculture, the official said. The working group themes have been shaped through months of extensive consultations, including public engagement via the MyGov platform, which received over 600 citizen responses, stakeholder consultations involving more than 500 organisations, and multiple national and international brainstorming sessions held in cities such as Oslo, Tokyo, New York and Paris. Building on the momentum of leading international forums such as the UK AI Safety Summit, the AI Seoul Summit, the France AI Action Summit, and the Global AI Summit on Africa, the Delhi summit will help strengthen existing multilateral initiatives while advancing new priorities, deliverables, and cooperative frameworks -- moving from high-level political statements to demonstrable impact and tangible progress in global AI cooperation, an official said. As a strategic precursor, approximately 300 pre-summit events have been organised to bring in diverse perspectives and build momentum ahead of the summit. Out of these, 57 events have been held across 25+ countries. Further, a series of regional AI impact conferences are being organised to ensure India's AI roadmap is inclusive and rooted in the aspirations of a Viksit Bharat, officials said. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will get a state visit on the occasion of the AI summit.

Sundar Pichai, Jensen Huang, Cristiano Amon, Brad Smith may attend India AI Impact Summit 2026

Global technology titans are set to converge in New Delhi for the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Leaders from Google, Nvidia, Microsoft, and OpenAI are expected. The summit, from February 16-20, will focus on AI's impact on human development and sustainability. India aims to showcase its AI capabilities and promote equitable development. NEW DELHI: Several top executives and technology leaders worldwide such as Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon are likely to attend the prestigious India AI Impact Summit 2026 in February this year, a top government official said. "We have got confirmations from almost all the major tech leaders like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Microsoft. I think Brad Smith (Microsoft) is coming. We expect Google's Sundar Pichai and Nvidia's Jensen Huang to attend the AI summit," Abhishek Singh, additional secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) told ET. Further, the official said that the top leadership of OpenAI is also expected in addition to an American artificial intelligence (AI) researcher and entrepreneur Dario Amodei. Invitees also include Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, and FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam. Singh also said that some of the leading venture capitalists (VC) such as Vinod Khosla, Vishal Shikka and Vinod Dham would also attend the mega event. India has also extended an invitation to China, as a part of diplomatic efforts in improving bilateral relations between the two countries. New Delhi is hosting the India AI Impact Summit 2026, focussing on a shift from action to AI-led impact on human development, environmental sustainability, and equitable progress as well as bridging the global AI divide through multilateral actions. The Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) is organising a five-day event from February 16-20th in New Delhi, to be inaugurated by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Nearly 50 heads of state and ministers are likely to fly down to take part in the distinguished AI showcase. The government is expecting a footfall of more than 50,000 individuals during the week-long event. "India will be highlighting the need for equitable development of AI, for democratising AI resources, and showcasing India's AI capabilities to the whole world," Singh added. During the exhibition, the multinationals will also showcase their AI-centric products and solutions. In 2025, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired the (AI) Action Summit in Paris following the AI Seoul Summit 2024, and the AI Safety Summit 2023 at the UK's Bletchley Park. During the Paris summit, the European Union (EU) unveiled investments supporting AI development. The European Commission launched InvestAI, a €200 billion initiative, including €20 billion for building four AI gigafactories to train large and highly complex models. India is positioning itself to harness AI for economic growth, societal progress, and the long-term vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. It has also secured the 3rd position in AI competitiveness worldwide, according to a report by Stanford University's 2025 Global AI Vibrancy Tool.

India AI Impact Summit 2026 to Shape Global AI Policy Standards

The India AI Impact Summit in 2026 aims to ensure that everyone, including developing countries, can benefit from AI and access its technologies, preventing a situation where only a select few companies or nations control these advantages. 2. Where is the India AI Impact Summit 2026 taking place? The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is happening in New Delhi from February 15th to February 20th, 2026. It will bring together policymakers, global leaders, tech CEOs, researchers, innovators, and new AI startups to talk about how AI rules can affect people and society, and how AI is already making a difference in the real world. 3. Why has India chosen to host this global AI summit? India is hosting this major AI conference to set global AI standards that consider developing countries. The aim is to encourage growth across the AI sector for everyone and make sure developing nations can get their hands on this technology. It's also about creating rules that lead to social and economic advantages by making sure this technology is available to all fairly. 4. Who will be attending the summit? You can expect Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bill Gates, and the heads of major companies like Google DeepMind, Anthropic, Adobe, Salesforce, Qualcomm, and FedEx to be there. Plus, there will be government officials and delegates from more than 100 countries. 5. How will the summit impact global AI policy? The goal of the summit is to get past just talking and actually get things done when it comes to AI policies. They'll be looking at how to make sure everyone can access data, computing power, and AI models. This should help countries use AI in a responsible way, making sure that new developments are also fair and good for the environment.