The India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, saw the arrival of the world’s top leaders sharing their visions for artificial intelligence for the Global South. Inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, and CEOs from Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, Microsoft, Adobe, and Accenture, the summit has focused on the theme People, Planet, and Progress.
Leaders shared their take on the need for ethical governance, inclusive deployment and usage, sovereign capabilities, and international cooperation for AI to benefit humanity broadly while tackling the known risks. The event has already seen investment commitments exceeding $100 billion in AI infrastructure, skilling, and innovation.
Here’s a collection of everything that all the global leaders and tech CEOs have shared with regard to AI at the AI Impact Summit 2026.
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India
In his keynote, Modi unveiled India’s MANAV vision — an acronym for Moral & Ethical Systems, Accountable Governance, National Sovereignty, Accessible & Inclusive, and Valid & Legitimate — as the guiding framework for human-centric AI. He stressed the need to prevent humans from being reduced to mere data points. “We must democratise AI so humans are not reduced to mere data points or raw material.”
Modi repeatedly emphasised direction and control. “AI is a transformative power — if directionless, it becomes disruption; if the right direction is found, it becomes a solution. We need to give AI open sky but need to keep command in our hands,” he said, using the GPS analogy to illustrate balance. He said how GPS shows the way but leaves the final decision to the driver, AI must guide the same way without dominating.
PM Modi also called for skilling to become a mass movement. “The future of work will be inclusive, trusted, and human-centric. If we move forward together, artificial intelligence will elevate the potential of humanity,” he said. Modi also celebrated India’s digital public infrastructure as a foundation. “India is the centre of the world’s largest tech pool. It is a matter of pride for the Global South that the AI summit is being organised in India.”
Emmanuel Macron, President of France
Macron opened with “Namaste” and delivered a endorsement of India’s digital achievements before moving to sovereignty and global cooperation. “India built something no other country in the world has built. A digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payment system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month. A health infrastructure that has issued 500 million digital health IDs. They call it the India Stack — Open, Interoperable, Sovereign,” he said.
He praised India’s leadership, stating, “India is a global leader in digital transformation. We are determined to continue to shape the rules of the game… with our allies such as India.” He added, “The future of AI will be built by those who combine innovation and responsibility, technology with humanity, and India and France will help to shape this future together.”
Macron also highlighted child safety and truth online, “We must protect our children from the darkest corners of the internet.” He also warned against over-dependence on a few dominant models, “We cannot accept that a handful of companies control the future of intelligence.”
Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google and Alphabet
Pichai framed AI as a historic opportunity for India to leapfrog development barriers. “Addressing the India AI Action Summit today was a profound personal honour. AI can improve billions of lives and solve some of the hardest problems in science. The best outcomes of AI are not guaranteed. We must pursue AI boldly, approach it responsibly, and work together through this moment,” he said.
He announced a full-stack AI hub in India backed by $15 billion in infrastructure investment and warned against inequality, “We cannot allow the digital divide to become an AI divide.” Pichai emphasised compute, connectivity, and training as prerequisites, stating, “We need to invest in compute, connectivity, and training so that everyone can participate.”
Sam Altman, CEO, OpenAI
Altman lauded India’s adoption speed, stating ,“It is amazing to be here… the work happening in India and the adoption of AI is leading the world… This will be one of the biggest markets for AI in the world, and I think India will have a huge amount of influence.” He noted 100 million weekly ChatGPT users in India, many of them students.
On employment he was realistic yet optimistic. “It (AI) will definitely impact the job market, but we always find new things to do, and I have no doubt we will find lots of better ones this time.” Altman also addressed proximity to superintelligence, stating, “We are getting close to systems that surpass human cognitive capabilities in most domains. That changes everything — we need coordinated global governance.”
Demis Hassabis, Co-founder and CEO, Google DeepMind
Hassabis congratulated the hosts, saying, “It is a huge honour to be here today… congratulations to Prime Minister Modi and the Indian government on convening such an impressive summit at this very pivotal moment for AI.” He described the gathering as essential for international dialogue on safe development.
Shantanu Narayen, Chairman and CEO, Adobe
Adobe’s Narayen focused on trust and provenance, saying, “I want every piece of information that’s produced to have the provenance and the watermark so that people can actually know what is real and what’s fake.” He added: “Given the number of people who use AI in India will be greater than… anywhere in the world over a few years, I think the leadership that India can play… how do you think about data, privacy and security and trust.”
Dario Amodei, CEO, Anthropic
Amodei warned of exponential progress, saying “AI has been on an exponential… we are now well advanced on that curve and there are only a small number of years for AI models surpassing the cognitive capabilities of most humans for most things.” He stressed democratic governance, adding, “India is the world’s largest democracy. We need to think about how democracies handle AI and how we confront other countries that are authoritarian.”
Alexandr Wang, Chief AI Officer, Meta
Meta’s Alexandr Wang showcased practical impact, stating, “Across India, creators use our AI to automatically translate their Reels… Small businesses talk to customers through WhatsApp business agents they created in 10 minutes on their phones.” He outlined the goal, saying that, “Our vision is personal superintelligence – AI that knows you, your goals… and helps you with whatever you’re focused on doing.”
Brad Smith, President and Vice Chairman, Microsoft
Smith emphasised partnership. “The world has come to India so that we can think together about what we can do to bring AI to more of the world, especially the global south.” He announced $50 billion in investment, adding, “We have to make sure that AI works for people… can we work together to make sure the technology serves people better every year.”
Julie Sweet, Chairman and CEO, Accenture
Accenture’s Sweet highlighted inclusion, stating, “One of the themes of the Summit has been the importance of inclusive growth and inclusive AI.”
António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
Guterres delivered an appeal for equitable and inclusive AI governance at the India AI Impact Summit 2026. “The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries — or left to the whims of a few billionaires. We risk deepening inequality, amplifying bias, fueling harm, and creating an AI divide,” he said. He praised India’s leadership, saying, “India is showing the world what is possible when digital innovation serves the many, not the few.” Guterres also highlighted AI’s potential, “Done right, AI can advance sustainable development goals, accelerate breakthroughs in medicine, expand learning opportunities, strengthen food security, bolster climate action and disaster preparedness and improve access to vital public services.”
Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director
Georgieva highlighted AI’s economic promise and the need for broad-based benefits. “AI has arrived; it is here,” she declared. “It has the potential to boost global productivity by up to 0.8 percentage points per year — possibly raising growth above pre-pandemic levels.” She commended India’s approach, “India’s human-centered vision and determination to democratise AI through digital interfaces and ingenuity is admirable and forward-looking.” She also stressed AI inclusion for everyone and smart policies.