New Delhi: India will host the much-anticipated AI Impact Summit 2026 from February 16 to 20 at the iconic Bharat Mandapam, bringing together heads of state, global technology leaders, policymakers and AI innovators from across the world.
The five-day summit is expected to draw participation from ministerial delegations of over 45 countries, senior representatives of multilateral institutions including the United Nations, and leading figures from frontier AI laboratories and global technology firms.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the summit, tour the AI Expo, and hold bilateral and roundtable engagements with global CEOs. At his invitation, French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva are expected to attend, reinforcing the geopolitical weight of the gathering.
The summit venue, Bharat Mandapam, has emerged as India’s premier diplomatic and international conference hub, and its hosting of the AI Impact Summit underscores the importance New Delhi attaches to this event.
Why the AI Impact Summit Matters
Artificial Intelligence has rapidly evolved from an academic research domain into a transformative force reshaping nearly every sector, healthcare diagnostics, agricultural productivity, financial systems, education, defence, manufacturing and climate modelling.
Earlier global AI forums, particularly in Europe and North America, largely focused on safety frameworks, existential risks and regulatory guardrails around advanced AI systems. India, while acknowledging these concerns, is attempting to reframe the global conversation.
The AI Impact Summit emphasises “People, Planet and Progress,” a developmental lens that places inclusive growth, sustainability and equitable access at the centre of AI governance. Indian policymakers argue that AI must not become a tool of digital monopolies but should serve as a public good.
According to IT Secretary S Krishnan, India’s message is clear: AI must remain human-centric and inclusive. Democratic access to computing resources, open datasets and innovation infrastructure must be ensured so that smaller nations and startups are not excluded from the AI revolution.
The IndiaAI Mission
At the heart of India’s strategy lies the IndiaAI Mission, which seeks to strengthen domestic compute capacity, develop indigenous datasets, support startups and create skilling pipelines. The summit is expected to showcase the progress made under this mission.
Seven thematic working groups will present policy proposals and frameworks around AI Commons, trusted AI systems, shared compute infrastructure, and sector-specific use cases. Over 700 sessions are scheduled across five days, covering governance, ethics, sovereign AI, data protection, cross-border collaboration and workforce transformation.
A central theme will be the development of indigenous foundation models tailored for Indian languages and strategic sectors. With linguistic diversity spanning hundreds of languages and dialects, India views multilingual AI as critical to digital inclusion.
Spotlight on sovereign AI
Ahead of the summit, 12 Indian startups selected under the Foundation Model Pillar of the IndiaAI initiative presented their innovations to Prime Minister Modi. These projects include Indian language large language models, multilingual AI tools, healthcare diagnostic systems, engineering simulations and generative AI applications.
India’s approach has been described as “innovation-first with proportionate regulation.” The government has maintained that while safeguards are necessary, overregulation at an early stage could stifle domestic innovation and disadvantage Indian startups in global competition.
The concept of sovereign AI, ensuring that countries retain control over critical digital infrastructure, data governance and AI capabilities is likely to dominate discussions, especially among Global South nations.
A convergence of global tech titans
The summit’s stature is further elevated by the participation of some of the world’s most influential technology leaders. Among the prominent CEOs expected to attend are:
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
Demis Hassabis, CEO of DeepMind Technologies
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic
Brad Smith, Vice Chair of Microsoft
The presence of frontier AI labs such as OpenAI and Anthropic, alongside technology giants like Microsoft and Google, positions the AI Impact Summit as a central platform for shaping the next phase of global AI governance and innovation.
Indian startup founders developing indigenous models and AI applications will share the stage, reflecting India’s ambition to blend domestic innovation with global collaboration.
With over 65 percent of its population under the age of 35, India sees its demographic dividend as a major advantage in the AI-driven future. However, experts caution that this advantage can only be realised through rapid reskilling and curriculum reforms.
Sessions at the summit will focus on AI literacy, vocational training, and industry-academia partnerships. Policymakers are expected to highlight how AI can augment, rather than replace human labour, provided workforce transitions are managed effectively.
Discussions will also explore AI’s role in public service delivery, agriculture productivity optimisation, climate resilience and smart urban planning, sectors crucial to India’s development trajectory.
Global South at the high table
Significantly, this is the first major global AI summit hosted in the Global South. India aims to use the platform to amplify the voices of developing countries that often lack representation in global technology rule-making forums.
Reports suggest that a joint declaration or roadmap for responsible AI deployment may emerge at the conclusion of the summit. Such a document could outline shared principles on inclusivity, safety, cross-border cooperation and access to AI infrastructure.
For many emerging economies, the question is not merely about AI leadership but AI access, ensuring that compute power, data resources and research collaboration are not monopolised by a handful of nations or corporations.
For India, the AI Impact Summit is about securing a seat at the global high table of technology leadership. It is also about shaping standards before they are locked in by others.
As geopolitical competition increasingly shifts toward control over advanced technologies, artificial intelligence has become a strategic asset comparable to energy or defence capabilities. Hosting a summit of this scale allows India to project itself as a bridge between developed and developing worlds in AI governance.
From sovereign AI ambitions and multilingual foundation models to global partnerships and ethical frameworks, the AI Impact Summit 2026 represents a defining moment in India’s technological journey.
Whether this summit results in concrete institutional mechanisms or long-term alliances remains to be seen. But one message is unmistakable: India no longer sees itself as merely riding the AI wave, it intends to help steer it.
