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 artificial intelligence is reshaping economies, governance and society.From Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav’s emphasis on democratizing AI and building sovereign capabilities to the Tata Sons chairman N ChandrasekaranDescribing AI as the next major infrastructure shift, speakers described the technology as both transformative and foundational. Additionally, industry leaders including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei highlighted India’s growing role in the global AI ecosystem, as well as the scale of opportunities and emerging risks.On the fourth day of the summit, speakers emphasized the themes of access, sovereignty, infrastructure and inclusive growth, reflecting India’s effort to establish itself as a credible AI hub in the Global South.
‘AI must be democratized and expanded’: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav
Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav described AI as a foundational technology transforming work and decision making, highlighting India’s integrated five-layer AI strategy spanning applications, models, computation, infrastructure and energy.Vaishnav said, “Welcome to the first AI Summit in the Global South and the largest AI Summit ever… The true value of technology lies in ensuring that its benefits reach the masses.”“AI is a fundamental technology that is transforming work and decision-making, and the Prime Minister’s vision is to democratize and scale it so that its benefits can reach the masses. India is working on all five layers of the AI stack, focusing on real-world solutions in sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, education and finance. At the model level, the emphasis is on sovereignty, with the belief that more than 90 per cent of use cases can be addressed through small, specialized models that deliver value at low cost,” he said 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 level and argued that most use cases can be addressed through small, specialized models that provide value at low cost.Vaishnaw also announced the key outcome of the summit “New Delhi Frontier AI Commitments”, a voluntary framework adopted by leading global and Indian AI companies. He said the initiative focuses on two priorities: advancing real-world AI use through anonymized, holistic insights to support evidence-based policymaking on jobs and skills, and strengthening multilingual, use-case evaluation to ensure AI systems work effectively across languages and cultures.
AI is the next major infrastructure: Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran
Chandrasekaran framed AI as a transformative infrastructure change comparable to the steam engine, electricity, and the Internet. “I think AI is the next big infrastructure. It’s the infrastructure of intelligence,” he said.Chandrasekaran argued that AI tools should reach the “last person”, highlighting how reach will define the social impact of the technology. He cited examples of rapid AI adoption to illustrate the lowering barriers to technology, including rural participants learning and deploying AI tools within hours.He also positioned India as a country of “AI optimists”, linking the country’s confidence to its track record in building large-scale digital public infrastructure, from digital identity systems to payment platforms. He stressed the need to build capabilities across the entire technology stack – from chips and systems to energy and applications – to ensure long-term competitiveness.
The energy of creating together is palpable here: Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, praised India’s AI ecosystem and called it the country’s unique drive and ambition. “The energy and ambition in this room and across India is incredible… The energy to build together here is palpable unlike anywhere else,” Amodei said during his address.Highlighting Anthropic’s growing footprint, he said, “As a sign of our commitment, we opened an office in Bengaluru this week… We have also announced partnerships with leading Indian enterprises, including Infosys.”Amodei emphasized the transformative potential of AI, saying that the technology could “cure diseases that have been incurable for thousands of years” and “lift billions of people out of poverty.” At the same time, he cautioned about the risks, saying, “I am concerned about the autonomous behavior of AI models, their potential for misuse… and their potential for economic displacement.”
‘Biggest platform change of our lifetime’: Google CEO Sundar Pichai
Google CEO Sundar Pichai highlighted artificial intelligence as a decisive technological change, calling it “the biggest platform change of our lifetime.” Speaking at the summit, he stressed that AI shows that “nothing is impossible when humanity dreams big”, while cautioning that its benefits are “neither guaranteed nor automatic.”Referring to India’s growing role in the global AI landscape, Pichai pointed to the rapid growth of Visakhapatnam. He said, “I remember it being a quiet and peaceful coastal town full of possibilities. Now… Google is setting up a full-stack AI hub, part of our US$15 billion infrastructure investment in India.”“Explaining the basis for optimism around AI, Pichai cited breakthroughs in scientific research. “AI can improve the lives of billions of people and solve some of the toughest problems in science,” he said, referencing AlphaFold’s impact on drug discovery. He said the Nobel Prize-winning innovation “compressed decades of research into a database that is now open to the world,” now used by more than 3 million researchers in more than 190 countries.“Pichai also stressed the need for bold and responsible deployment of AI and said, “We must be equally bold in tackling problems in areas where access to the technology is lacking,” reiterating the importance of inclusive and responsible development to ensure the benefits of AI are widely shared.
‘AI should belong to everyone’: UN chief Antonio Guterres
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres delivered one of the summit’s most direct warnings, warning that the trajectory of artificial intelligence cannot be left to the “whims of a few billionaires” or shaped by just a handful of countries. Emphasizing that “AI should be for everyone,” he called for the creation of global guardrails to ensure oversight, accountability, and fairness as the technology advances rapidly.Guterres called on governments and technology leaders to support a proposed $3 billion global fund on AI, which aims to build basic capacity and ensure open, equitable access. Calling the figure modest, he said the target represents less than one percent of a large tech company’s annual revenue, calling it “a small price to pay for AI proliferation that benefits everyone”.While talking about the transformative promise of AI, from accelerating medical breakthroughs to strengthening food security and climate resilience, he warned about parallel risks. Without coordinated safeguards, AI could deepen inequality, increase bias and harm vulnerable populations. He also stressed the need to protect individuals from exploitation and said that “no child should be made a test subject for unregulated AI”.Beyond ethics and governance, Guterres flagged the growing environmental tensions associated with AI infrastructure. As demand for energy and water from data centers grows, he urged companies to prioritize clean power rather than “shifting the costs onto vulnerable communities.”
‘India’s digital model sets global benchmark’: French President Emmanuel Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron talked 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 praised India’s digital public infrastructure as a global benchmark.Pointing to the scale and impact of India’s digital systems, Macron said, “India has built something that no other country in the world has built. A digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payments system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month… They call it the India Stack – open, interoperable, sovereign. That’s what this summit is about.”Reflecting on past collaborations, he recalled the AI Action Summit co-hosted by France and India in Paris. He said, “We have established a global guiding principle… Artificial Intelligence will enable our humanity to innovate faster… for the good of mankind. We both believe in this revolution.”Macron also acknowledged the competitive dynamics surrounding AI. “AI has become a key area of strategic competition, and big tech has become even bigger,” he said, underscoring the need for balanced, responsible and investment-driven innovation.
‘AI is a global common good, it must be trusted and protected’: PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi positioned artificial intelligence as a shared global responsibility, and urged leaders to “develop AI as a global common good”. Emphasizing on inclusion, he said that AI should be democratized to become “a tool of inclusion and empowerment, especially for the global South”. PM Modi also unveiled the ‘Human Vision’ for AI, which focuses on ethical and moral systems, accountable governance and national sovereignty.Flagging the risks, he stressed that the AI ecosystem must remain “child safe and family directed”, while also warning that deepfakes and fabricated content are destabilizing open societies. Calling for global standards, he advocated authenticity labels, watermarking and clear-source criteria to establish trust in AI technologies “right from the start”, noting that AI is not only making machines intelligent but also enhancing human capacity at unprecedented speed and scale.
