NEW DELHI: After a week of packed halls, high-level diplomacy and billions of dollars of advocacy, several national delegations at India’s Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit will issue a joint statement on how the world should deal with artificial intelligence on Saturday, a day later than originally planned, as the government works to broaden global consensus on the document. The declaration has been supported by more than 70 countries, with companies committing to invest more than $250 billion in the country, and strengthens India’s efforts to set a global AI agenda for the global South. union minister for electronics and information technology Ashwini Vashno Friday said there was “tremendous consensus” and discussions were continuing. “The declaration and its outlines will be shared transparently tomorrow,” he said, adding that India hoped the final number of signatories would exceed 80. Indian officials say summit has laid the groundwork for cooperation despite differences Countries failed to reach consensus at the last Paris summit, but there appears to be greater synergy between governments and businesses on several issues. Substantial differences have also emerged in global governance. While the United Nations announced the creation of an independent scientific panel on artificial intelligence, the U.S. delegation warned against centralized global control of generated AI, underscoring the difficulty of developing binding global rules. Despite the differences in views, Indian officials said the summit laid the foundation for cooperation rather than confrontation. “This is real action, not just words on paper,” Vaishnaw said, referring to bilateral discussions, industry commitments and plans to expand AI Mission 2.0. Ashwini Vaishnaw said the scale and diversity of participation underscored global confidence in India’s approach. “The world has full confidence in India’s role in the new era of artificial intelligence. This is very important to all of us,” he said. According to the minister, more than 500,000 visitors have attended the summit and expo, with “almost all major AI players in the world” participating. Vaishnaw said a key highlight was the acceptance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘ManavAI’ vision of AI of, by and for humanity, which puts the responsible and ethical use of AI at the centre. “For the first time, discussions about ethical and responsible AI have been brought to the forefront in such a meaningful way,” he said. Investment commitments also stand out. Vaishnaw said infrastructure-related commitments related to artificial intelligence, data centers and related technologies have exceeded $250 billion, while about $20 billion in deep technology venture capital has been completed. “Numbers are important, but more important is the trust the world has shown in India,” he said.
