The India AI Impact Summit 2026 officially commenced today, February 16, at New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam, signaling the nation’s emergence as a primary architect of the global artificial intelligence landscape. Inaugurating the five-day landmark event—the first major global AI summit hosted in the Global South—Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared that India’s 1.4 billion people are at the forefront of a transformation driven by a unique blend of “ambition and responsibility.” The Prime Minister emphasized that India is no longer just a consumer of technology but a global service provider, leveraging its world-class digital public infrastructure and a vibrant startup ecosystem to solve real-world problems. Under the theme “Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya” (Welfare for All, Happiness for All), the summit underscores a human-centric approach to AI, focusing on sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education, and judicial reform to ensure that technological progress translates into inclusive growth.
The summit has drawn an unprecedented assembly of over 100 countries, including high-profile world leaders like French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, alongside tech icons such as Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. A major highlight of the opening day was the showcase of 12 indigenous foundation AI models, developed under the ₹10,372 crore IndiaAI Mission, which are designed to support India’s 22 official languages and foster a sovereign tech stack. PM Modi also invited the “whole world’s data to reside in India,” noting that the expansion of domestic data centers and computing power will be a massive job creator for the youth. As the event unfolds across 70,000 square meters of exhibition space organized around the “Seven Chakras” of AI impact—including AI safety, skilling, and democratized access—it sets a bold new roadmap for global AI governance that prioritizes ethical innovation and the empowerment of developing nations.
