India’s AI ambitions took center stage at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, where national and global leaders, policymakers and top technology executives discussed how AI could reshape economies, governance and society.From Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s emphasis on democratizing AI and building sovereign capabilities, to Tata Sons Chairman ChandrasekaranIn describing artificial intelligence as the next big infrastructure shift, speakers defined the technology as transformative and foundational. Additionally, industry leaders such as Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei highlighted India’s growing role in the global AI ecosystem, while also pointing out the scale of opportunities and emerging risks.
Google CEO Pichai praises rise of AI in India, highlights Vizag investment, warns of AI divide
On the fourth day of the summit, speakers highlighted themes such as accessibility, sovereignty, infrastructure and inclusive growth, reflecting India’s efforts to position itself as a trusted AI hub in the global South.
‘AI must be democratized and scaled’: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw described AI as a foundational technology that will transform work and decision-making and highlighted India’s comprehensive five-tier AI strategy covering applications, models, computing, infrastructure and energy.“Welcome to the first and largest AI summit in the Southern Hemisphere to date… The true value of technology is in ensuring that it reaches the masses,” Vaishnaw said.“Artificial intelligence is a fundamental technology that will transform work and decision-making, and the Prime Minister’s vision is to democratize and scale it so that it benefits the masses. India is working on all five levels of the AI stack, focusing on practical solutions in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, education and finance. At the model layer, the focus is on sovereignty, believing that more than 90% of use cases can be solved by smaller, more specialized models, providing value at a lower cost. ” he added while addressing heads of state, representatives, industry leaders, students and members of the media.He emphasized the importance of sovereign AI capabilities at the model layer, arguing that most use cases can be solved by smaller, specialized models that provide value at a lower cost.Vaishnaw also announced what he called a key outcome of the summit, the New Delhi Frontier AI Commitment, a voluntary framework adopted by leading global AI companies and India’s leading AI companies. He said the program focuses on two priorities: advancing the use of real-world AI through anonymized, aggregated insights to support evidence-based employment and skills decisions; and strengthening multilingual, use-case evaluation to ensure AI systems work effectively across languages and cultures.
Artificial intelligence is the next major infrastructure: Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran
Chandrasekaran defines AI as a transformative infrastructure shift comparable to the steam engine, electricity, and the Internet. “In my opinion, artificial intelligence is the next big infrastructure. It’s smart infrastructure,” he said.Chandrasekaran believes that AI tools must reach the “last person” and highlights how accessibility will define the technology’s social impact. He cited examples of rapid AI adoption, including rural actors learning and deploying AI tools within hours, as examples of how the technology lowers barriers.He also positioned India as a nation of “AI optimists,” linking the country’s confidence to its record in building large-scale digital public infrastructure, from digital identity systems to payment platforms. He emphasized the need to build capabilities across the entire technology stack, from chips and systems to energy and applications, to ensure long-term competitiveness.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei says the energy of building together is palpable
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expressed his appreciation for India’s AI ecosystem, praising the country’s unique drive and ambition. “The energy and ambition in this room and across India is incredible… The energy of building together here is palpable and unlike anywhere else,” Amodei said in his speech.Highlighting Anthropic’s growing footprint, he added: “As a sign of our commitment, we have just opened an office in Bengaluru this week… We have also announced partnerships with major Indian players including Infosys.”Amodai highlighted the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, saying the technology could “cure diseases that have been incurable for thousands of years” and “help billions of people escape poverty.” At the same time, he warned of the risks, adding, “I worry about the autonomous behavior of AI models, their potential for abuse… and their potential to cause economic displacement.”
Google CEO: ‘The biggest platform shift of our lifetime’ Sundar Pichai
Google CEO Sundar Pichai has highlighted artificial intelligence as a decisive technological change, describing it as “the biggest platform shift of our lifetimes.” Speaking at the summit, he stressed that AI showed “when humans dream big, anything is possible,” while warning that its benefits “are neither guaranteed nor automatic.”Pichai further mentioned India’s expanding role in global artificial intelligence and noted the rapid development in Visakhapatnam. “I remember it being a quiet and modest coastal city, full of potential. Now…Google is building a full-stack artificial intelligence center as part of our $15 billion infrastructure investment in India,” he said, adding that the facility would bring “gigawatt-scale computing and a new international undersea cable gateway.”“Pichai cited scientific breakthroughs in explaining his reasons for optimism about artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence can improve the lives of billions of people and solve some of the most difficult problems in science,” he noted, citing AlphaFold’s impact on drug discovery. He added that the Nobel Prize-winning innovation “compresses decades of research into a database that is now open to the world” and is currently used by “more than 3 million researchers in more than 190 countries.”“Pichai also emphasized the need for bold and responsible deployment of AI, saying, “We must be equally bold in addressing areas where technology is lacking,” while reiterating the importance of inclusive and responsible development to ensure the benefits of AI are widely shared.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres: “Artificial Intelligence must belong to everyone”
In one of the most direct warnings at the summit, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the trajectory of artificial intelligence cannot be determined by “the whims of a few billionaires” or by just a few countries. He stressed that “artificial intelligence must belong to everyone” and pushed for the establishment of global guardrails to ensure oversight, accountability and fairness as the technology rapidly develops.Guterres called on governments and technology leaders to support a proposed $3 billion global artificial intelligence fund aimed at building basic capabilities and ensuring open and fair opportunities. That’s not a huge number, he added, adding that the target represents less than one percent of a major tech company’s annual revenue and calling it “a small price to pay for the proliferation of AI that benefits everyone.”Speaking about the transformative prospects of artificial intelligence, from accelerating medical breakthroughs to enhancing food security and climate resilience, he warned of parallel risks. Without coordinated safeguards, AI could exacerbate inequalities, amplify bias and harm vulnerable groups. He also stressed the need to protect individuals from exploitation, noting that “no child should be a test subject for unregulated artificial intelligence”.In addition to ethics and governance, Guterres also pointed to growing environmental pressures related to AI infrastructure. As energy and water demands from data centers surge, he urged businesses to prioritize clean energy rather than “passing costs onto disadvantaged communities.”
French President Macron: “India’s digital model sets a global benchmark”
French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken about Europe’s role in shaping the future of artificial intelligence, describing the region as a “space for innovation and investment” amid rapid technological change. Addressing the summit, he also hailed India’s digital public infrastructure as a global benchmark.“India has built something that no other country in the world has built. Digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payments system that now handles 20 billion transactions a month… They call it the India stack – open, interoperable, sovereign. That’s what this summit is about.” Macron said of the scale and impact of India’s digital system.Looking back on past collaborations, he recalled the AI Action Summit co-hosted by France and India in Paris. “We have developed a global guiding principle… that artificial intelligence will be an enabler of faster innovation for us humans… for the benefit of humanity. We all believe in this revolution,” he said.Macron also acknowledged the competitive dynamics surrounding artificial intelligence. “Artificial intelligence has become a major area of strategic competition, with large technology companies becoming more powerful,” he noted, stressing the need for balanced, responsible and investment-driven innovation.
Prime Minister Modi: Artificial intelligence is a global common good and must be trusted and protected
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has positioned artificial intelligence as a shared global responsibility, urging leaders to “develop AI as a global common good.” Emphasizing inclusivity, he said AI must be democratized and become “a tool of inclusion and empowerment, especially for countries in the Global South.” Prime Minister Modi also unveiled the “MANAV Vision” for AI, which has at its core a moral and ethical system, responsible governance and national sovereignty.He stressed that the AI ecosystem must remain “child-safe and family-guided,” while warning that deepfakes and fabricated content were destabilizing open societies. He called for the development of global standards, advocating for authenticity labels, watermarks and clear provenance specifications to embed trust in artificial intelligence technology “from the beginning”, noting that artificial intelligence not only makes machines intelligent, but also amplifies human potential at unprecedented speed and scale.
