IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026 Highlights: In his keynote speech at the AI Impact Summit 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke about the growing influence of artificial intelligence and India’s plan to make this technology accessible to everyone.
He welcomed global leaders and experts to what he described as a landmark AI gathering. He said India is home to one of the world’s largest technology talent pools and added that it is a proud moment for countries of the Global South to host such a major summit. Drawing a comparison with early wireless communication, he noted that few could have predicted how deeply it would connect the world. In the same way, he said AI is bringing a historic shift, and what the world is seeing now is only the beginning of its impact.
The Prime Minister explained that India views AI as a force for public good. He said the summit’s theme reflects the idea of welfare and happiness for all. According to him, AI should not remain limited to a few nations or companies but should benefit everyone, especially developing countries. He pointed out that while AI is making machines smarter, it is also greatly expanding human ability. He stressed that the speed and scale of change today are far greater than in earlier technological revolutions.
He also spoke about the need for responsibility. He said leaders must think about the kind of AI systems they leave for future generations. The key issue, he added, is not what AI might achieve years from now, but how it is being used today. He compared it to nuclear energy, which has shown both destructive power and positive use, depending on how it is handled.
The Prime Minister underlined that AI must be centred on human needs. Without proper direction, he warned, it could create disruption. But with the right guidance, it can offer powerful solutions. He said the goal of the summit is to ensure that AI remains sensitive, responsible and focused on the welfare of all.
The India AI Impact Summit has brought together policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, technology experts and civil society members from around the world in New Delhi. As the first major global AI summit hosted in the Global South, it aims to promote international cooperation on AI governance, safety and its broader impact on society, while supporting the idea of AI for humanity.
PM Modi’s MANAV vision for AI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also highlighted 5 keypointers outlining the “MANAV” Vision for artificial intelligence. He said the word “Manav” means human, and the idea behind the vision is to keep people at the heart of AI progress.
He described five main principles. The first focuses on ethics, saying AI systems must be guided by strong moral values. The second highlights the need for responsible governance, with clear laws and proper monitoring. The third stresses national sovereignty, meaning individuals and nations should have control over their own data.
The fourth principle calls for AI to be open and inclusive, so that its advantages reach many people instead of being limited to a small group. The fifth underlines that AI must operate within the law and remain reliable and open to checks.
According to the Prime Minister, this human-centred approach will help ensure that AI is developed and used in a responsible way, contributing to the well-being of people around the world in the decades ahead.
IndiaAI Impact Summit 2026: Full Schedule for Feb 19
As part of his packed agenda at the Summit, the Prime Minister will attend the Leaders’ Plenary starting around 12 noon. This session will see Presidents, Prime Ministers, ministers and top officials from global institutions come together to discuss major priorities related to artificial intelligence. The focus will be on rules and regulations, building strong digital infrastructure, and working together across countries on AI development.
Later in the evening, from 5:30 pm onwards, the Prime Minister will join a CEO roundtable meeting. Senior leaders from international technology and industry companies will sit down with government representatives to talk about investments, joint research projects, supply chain planning and the practical use of AI systems.
Check highlights from the coverage of the AI Summit 2026 here:
PM Modi Key Address at AI Impact Summit 2026 Live Updates Here:
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: PM Modi shares details after CEO Roundtable
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Qualcomm commits Rs 90 crore to support research in India
Chip company Qualcomm Technologies has committed Rs 90 crore over the next five years to support research programmes in India that will be jointly identified by the company and Anusandhan National Research Foundation, the US-based firm said on Thursday.
Under the strategic collaboration, Qualcomm Technologies plans to strengthen Indiaas research infrastructure to enhance the nation's research capabilities in science, engineering, and next-gen technologies.
"Qualcomm Technologies will contribute up to Rs 90 crore over the next five years to support ANRFas mission-driven research programs. These programmes will be jointly identified and selected through ANRF's established evaluation and governance frameworks in priority technology areas, including AI systems, advanced wireless technologies and next-generation computing," the company said in a statement.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: India-France ties at highest point says Macron
"This is my fourth bilateral visit as president; the Prime Minister has also visited several times, we have seen each other more than twenty times, and in recent years we have consolidated a very strong relationship. This fuels an extremely dense agenda centered around a shared vision of the Indo-Pacific, as well as a desire to avoid any form of hegemony or vassalization in the region, and to avoid being in a position that is in any way conflictual," he said
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Finland PM Petteri Orpo hails 'fruitful' meeting with Modi
"The meeting was very good and fruitful. I am very satisfied with the meeting and the results. We discussed bilateral relations between India and Finland, which are in a very good shape. We can have a deeper cooperation, for example, in trade, which was our second request. Now that we have a trade deal between India and the European Union, we have a huge potential to increase our trade. We decided to double the trade between India and Finland..." he told news agency ANI.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Switzerland says looking forward to hosting 2027 AI Summit in Geneva
Switzerland is looking forward to hosting the AI Summit 2027 in Geneva, which will strengthen the country’s position in digital policy, President of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin said.
Interacting with mediapersons at the Swiss Pavilion at the ongoing AI Impact Summit, with “See You in 2027 in Geneva” written in the background, Parmelin also termed his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi “excellent”.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Building on India-UK FTA, we have 150 UK firms working in AI space in India, says UK Deputy PM
UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy stated that around 150 British companies are currently operating in India’s artificial intelligence sector, building on the India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) signed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the UK last year.
Speaking to ANI on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit 2026, Mr. Lammy congratulated India for hosting a successful summit that prioritised the Global South, noting that the event builds on the first AI summit held in the UK at Bletchley Park and strengthens bilateral trade and investment opportunities.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: AI summit a tremendous success, real value lies in mass adoption, says Jeet Adani
Jeet Adani, Director of Adani Defence and Aerospace, said the recent AI summit was a “tremendous success”, highlighting India’s growing global stature in the field of artificial intelligence. He said the event reflected India’s prowess in bringing together people from different regions and demographics onto a single platform and securing significant commitments towards advancing AI. From an India perspective, Adani stressed that the true value of such initiatives would be realised only when every citizen is able to use and adopt AI in their daily lives. He added that ensuring widespread accessibility and practical integration of AI should remain the central goal for all stakeholders.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: OpenAI's Sam Altman vs Anthropic's Dario Amodei - Rivalry on full display at India AI Impact Summit 2026
In a moment that was captured on camera, Modi linked arms with Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Altman, while other dignitaries followed suit. Altman and Amodei, positioned next to each other, opted instead to raise their fists in the air, creating an awkward break in the chain and drawing immediate online commentary labeling it a symbol of the “AI cold war.”
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Didn't know what I was supposed to do', says Sam Altman on awkward moment with Anthropic's Dario Amodei
“I was sort of confused and didn’t know what I was supposed to do,” Sam Altman, the tech entrepreneur leading OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, said describing an awkward onstage moment with rival AI firm Anthropic’s CEO Dario Amodei at the India AI Impact Summit.
After the inaugural session of the summit, Mr. Altman and Mr. Amodei, who run two of the world’s most closely watched AI companies, along with other tech moguls, went on stage for a group photograph with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I didn’t know what was happening,” Mr. Altman said when asked about the awkward moment. “I was sort of confused, like [Prime Minister] Modi grabbed my hand and put it up, and I just wasn’t sure what we were supposed to be doing. I thought it was the open clock.” Mr. Altman and Mr. Amodei worked together at OpenAI till 2019.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: PM Modi to participate in a CEO roundtable from 5.30 pm
Senior executives from global technology and industry firms will discuss investment, research collaboration, supply chains and deployment of AI systems with the government leadership at the roundtable.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: 'AI will definitely impact the job market, but...'
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said "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.”
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: My daughters thank AI chatbots, says Rishi Sunak
At the ongoing India AI Impact Summit, former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak noted that his two daughters made it a point to say “please" and “thank you” when interacting with artificial intelligence chatbots.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: India among Microsoft's largest AI investment destinations, says Brad Smith
India is one of the largest investment destinations for Microsoft as the company has announced plans to invest $50 billion by the end of this decade to expand artificial intelligence (AI) across the Global South, Microsoft Vice-Chairman and President Brad Smith saidat the AI Impact Summit.
Mr. Smith added that investments, infrastructure, skilling and addressing real-world problems are some of the key requirements to bridge the technology gaps.
“When you study the history of technology, infrastructure is not only hardware, not only wires and grids, it is skilling for people. Because the key to enabling a country’s population to use a general-purpose technology at scale is to give people, the country access to the skills,” he said.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Summit a great recognition of countries, private and public sectors coming together, says Accenture CEO
Chair and CEO of Accenture Julie Sweet, addressing the media at the Summit venue said: “This summit has been a great recognition of the importance of countries coming together, private sector and the public sector, and it’s really been a great testimony to the importance of India as well... One of the themes of the summit has been the importance of inclusive growth, inclusive AI, and I think the fact that there are so many people here from around the world tells you that leaders are committed to this.”
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Meta's Alexandr Wang bats for public-private partnership to unlock AI's potential
Realising AI’s full promise hinges on getting policies right as well as investment, Meta’s Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang said as he called for bold national strategies and deep public-private collaboration to unlock its full potential.
Addressing the AI Impact Summit, Mr. Wang underscored the need for the government and industry to work together to deliver the four building blocks of artificial intelligence -- talent, energy, data and compute -- and to design and deploy AI that works for citizens and economies.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: AI changing nature of software industry will be bad for some companies, says Sam Altman
Artificial Intelligence will reset the nature of software industry, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said, adding that while for some companies it will be bad, a lot of others will be able to benefit as they have a different value proposition.
“...but people overreact with positive and negative...So it is totally true that software is now far easier to create than ever before, and I’m sure that will be quite bad for some software companies, but I think a lot of software companies have a value proposition that is quite different,” he said, speaking to reporters at the Summit.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: 'Long term engagement history with global enterprises positions India uniquely in AI age'
The real world begins when AI is introduced into large real-world organisations. In those environments, technology has evolved for many years , application landscapes are complex, data is fragmented, work flows are siloed , processes vary across Geography, Business units and regulatory regime. Decision making is rarely uniform, Wipro Executive Chairman Rishad Premji said at the AI Impact Summit 2026
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Wipro will have to invest in change in the AI Era to deliver value, says Rishad Premji
"Technology alone is not enough for these systems to deliver value in organisations. Organisations themselves will have to invest in change. Taking people truly along, helping them adapt to new ways of working, Redesigning roles and decision making and building confidence in how AI is used. That includes reskilling people , reskilling teams to work effectively with AI tools, so that they understand outputs and exercise judgement where it matters most," Executive Chairman Rishad Premji said
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: PM Modi outlines three key steps for responsible
At the AI Summit 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi outlined a vision for responsible and human-centric artificial intelligence, emphasising three key steps: building trustworthy data systems rooted in data sovereignty, ensuring AI operates with transparent and accountable safety rules, and guiding AI development with clear human values and principles.
He highlighted that the rapid growth of AI has expanded the scope for unethical behavior, making ethical safeguards more important than ever. Citing India’s successes with digital vaccination platforms and UPI, Modi stressed that technology should empower people, not just generate profit, and called for global collaboration to ensure AI remains a shared resource for humanity.
He also highlighted India’s AI readiness, with 38,000 GPUs currently and 24,000 more planned, while urging oversight and reliable data to transform AI disruption into the greatest opportunity for humankind.
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: Brad Smith on using AI for the real world
Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, spoke about how AI can make a difference in people’s lives around the world. He said we need to invest in better data for different languages and create systems to measure AI built in those languages. “We must build out data provenance with a view to linguistic diversity that we need to enhance around the world,” he said.
Smith emphasized the importance of helping the Global South. “We need to use AI to solve the problems that matter most there, like improving agriculture. Microsoft is launching a new initiative this week to address food security across Africa,” he said.
He explained that if we build infrastructure, invest in skills, and tackle real-world problems, we create a foundation for the future. But he also reminded everyone of the big question: “What will AI mean for the future of work and jobs?”
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: President of the RUSSOFT Association on India's AI leadership role
President of the RUSSOFT Association, Valentin Makarov says, "We have extensive experience of working with India in different spheres, I first came to India in 1995...Now we have very close cooperation...India wants to become a leader in the AI.
Probably there are some historical problems which prevent you from being a leader all the time. Now we have the United States and China who are opposite leaders...If we combine our best things together and create a synergetic effect of that. I am sure India will be becoming one of leaders in the world in terms of AI"
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: 'Right action comes from right understanding,' says PM Modi
At the Plenary Session of IndiaAIImpactSummit2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "India is the land of Buddha, and Lord Buddha said, "right action comes from right understanding." Therefore, it is very important that we together create a roadmap that shows the true impact of AI.
"True impact comes only when we take right decisions at the right time. During the COVID global pandemic, the world has seen that when we stand with each other, even the impossible becomes possible. From vaccine development to supply chain, from data sharing to saving lives, collaboration provided the solution."
#watch | Delhi: At the Plenary Session of #indiaaiimpactsummit2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi says, "India is the land of Buddha, and Lord Buddha said, "right action comes from right understanding." Therefore, it is very important that we together create a roadmap that shows… pic.twitter.com/DEMRetxZqg
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2026
AI Impact Summit 2026 LIVE: AI could boost India’s economy dramatically
Dario Amodei of Anthropic said India has great potential to show what AI can do. “I think we should double down on AI for curing diseases in healthcare. India is almost a perfect case study to prove AI can accelerate economic growth. It may sound absurd, but AI can even help India achieve a standout 25% economic growth. This country can be one of the world’s leaders in demonstrating AI’s impact,” he said.
He also spoke about partnerships with Indian companies. “We want to jointly win with Indian companies. There is a lot of excitement to build, especially in public service areas like agriculture,” Amodei said.
Demis Hassabis, co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, said that AI should be approached scientifically. “We need to understand what these systems can do, build good guardrails, monitor them carefully, and make sure they serve the purposes we want. We have to grasp these opportunities to advance science, medicine, human health, society, and the world,” he said.
Hassabis believes we are entering one of the most important moments in human history. “AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) will be one of the most momentous periods, like the discovery of fire or electricity. It will have 10 times the impact of the Industrial Revolution, but it will happen 10 times faster—probably in a decade rather than a century,” he said.
He also praised India for partnerships in AI. “I’m proud of our deep partnership with Mr. Ambani and the Reliance Jio group. We are bringing intelligence to everyone in India with our Gemini foundation models, in partnership with Reliance. We hope to build on that in the next few years,” Hassabis said.
At the same time, he reminded everyone to approach AI with humility. “We don’t have all the answers yet about how this technology will develop and be used in the world,” he said.
Hassabis highlighted that 2026 marks a turning point. “We are at the threshold where AGI is becoming a reality. General-purpose AI systems are becoming more capable week by week. Almost every branch of science can be impacted. It is an amazing opportunity for economics, productivity, and science,” he said.
Sikka pointed out that AI today still has limits. “Hallucinations are one of the main problems blocking AI use in companies. But beyond that, understanding the physical world and human movement is one of the next big frontiers,” he said.
He emphasized that being effective with AI requires knowing both its power and its limitations. “There is a huge gap between large language models and business users, especially on how to bring value to them. Overcoming that gap is where a lot of opportunities lie. Bridging this requires systems that are correct, trusted, verifiable, and reliable,” he explained.
Vishal Sikka, CEO of Vianai, said that mastering today’s AI is not enough, we must leapfrog it. “We can transform every legacy system. The huge complexities inside big companies can be removed. Industries can be changed. We can amplify them to deliver things that were not possible before, or that used to need professionals to handle,” he said.
He added that India has an abundance of talent and resources. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a billion entrepreneurs, people who can overcome challenges and deliver value using AI. “This is exactly what the world needs, and India has the potential to do it,” Sikka said.
At the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced that Jio, along with Reliance, will invest ₹10 lakh crore over the next seven years to develop artificial intelligence in India.
Ambani said that this massive investment will contribute to patient and disciplined national building capital. He highlighted that the focus is not just on technology, but also on creating long-term value for the country through AI innovation and infrastructure.
During his keynote at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the democratisation of artificial intelligence in India. He emphasised that AI should serve people and warned that humans must not be treated as “raw materials” in the age of technology.
PM Modi described the summit as a moment of pride for the country, highlighting India’s growing role in technology and AI innovation.
The Prime Minister also thanked international tech leaders for participating in the summit. Speaking on behalf of 140 crore Indians, he welcomed all the leaders and acknowledged their contributions in making the summit a success.
At the India AI Impact Summit, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries, said that Jio would play a major role in India’s AI journey.
During his speech, Ambani shared three important announcements regarding Jio’s plans in AI. While the details of all three were highlighted, he emphasised that the company aims to ensure a smooth AI transition for India.
Ambani also reassured that Jio would take care to make sure AI adoption does not lead to job losses. He stressed that while AI is a transformative force, people’s livelihoods would remain protected as the technology rolls out across industries.
In his keynote address, Ambani highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence for the technology sector. He called AI “the key mantra” driving innovation today and emphasized its potential to transform industries across India.