India is set to host the AI Impact Summit, a high-profile gathering of global leaders and industry heavyweights in artificial intelligence — a technology widely seen as one of the biggest disruptors since the advent of electricity.

India’s burgeoning entertainment and media industry looks to amplify the AI-related challenges and opportunities at the summit with several media industry veterans slated to be speakers at the event, apart from related activities and sessions, including a high profile keynote by JioStar Vice-Chairman Uday Shankar at the main event.

Recent amendment to IT rules and FAQs around AI-generated content and labelling is the huge talking point in the industry at the moment, as is increased accountability of social media platforms and AI tool providers. The summit will offer insights into India’s approach to tackling deepfakes and AI misinformation, a PTI report from New Delhi stated yesterday.

The summit, at the grand Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi from February 16-20 that will see PM Narendra Modi inaugurate it today evening, will bring together policymakers, industry leaders and technology innovators at a time when nations are racing to define their AI agenda.

For India, the event is as much about signalling capability as it is about intent — showcasing its deep talent pool, expanding digital public infrastructure and growing startup ecosystem, while positioning itself as a key architect of responsible, scalable and inclusive AI solutions for the world.

Artificial intelligence or AI has moved well beyond research labs and boardroom buzzwords — it is reshaping healthcare delivery, transforming agriculture, recalibrating financial markets, redefining education systems and rewriting corporate strategy, even as it alters the very nature of work and, increasingly, everyday life.

For India, the global summit underlines the nation’s intent to not merely be a participant, but a key architect in shaping the rules, standards and opportunities of the AI age.

At its core lies the ambition to secure a seat at the global high table of technology leadership and help shape the next phase of Artificial Intelligence development.

“The key message we want to send is that whatever happens with AI needs to be human-centric and inclusive. There needs to be democratic access to AI resources, and it needs to be done in a way where people are at the centre of this process,” IT Secretary S Krishnan told PTI.

At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, many global leaders are scheduled to attend the AI Impact Summit, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Lula da Silva. The presence of these heads of state underscores the high-level international engagement and interest around the AI agenda.

Ministerial delegations from over 45 countries would be participating in the summit. The UN Secretary General and senior officials from several international organisations will also join the deliberations.

Prime Minister Modi will address the Summit, visit the Expo, and engage closely with the CEOs. The event will be closely watched globally as it unfolds, given that some of the biggest names shaping the tech narrative are slated to be part of it.

While earlier global gatherings, including the UK’s AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park (2023), the Seoul Summit (2024), and the Paris meet (2025), placed significant emphasis on frontier risks, safety guardrails and voluntary commitments, India is widening the lens to foreground AI’s developmental impact and real-world applications that can drive economic growth, social inclusion and sustainability. In essence, People, Planet and Progress.

India is the architect of one of the world’s largest digital public infrastructures, which has drawn global recognition, and is home to a fast-growing startup ecosystem.

Backed by the IndiaAI Mission’s push for compute capacity, datasets and skilling, the summit will signal New Delhi’s strategy for harnessing Artificial Intelligence while balancing rapid innovation with appropriate safeguards.

Seven thematic working groups, co-chaired by representatives from the Global North and Global South, will present concrete deliverables, including proposals for AI Commons, trusted AI tools, shared compute infrastructure, and sector-specific compendiums of AI use cases.

Power-packed sessions, over 700 planned over five days, will address AI safety, governance, ethical use, data protection and India’s approach to sovereign AI, including the development of indigenous foundation models for strategic sectors.

The summit will have deep dives into how AI is impacting professions and industries, the new skill requirements for the evolving job market, and the role of AI in supporting farmers, small businesses and individuals.

AI and the future of work:

Unlike the EU’s regulation-heavy AI Act or the US’ market-driven approach, India has opted, and indeed advocated, for an innovation-first approach. A development-first model focused on scaling benefits across emerging economies.

“Concerns of each society and each country are different in where the negative impact could lie, and so we need to understand that our approach to regulate AI will depend on the objective situations we find ourselves in.

“If we need to legislate and regulate, we can do it quickly and do it in a way that does not impact innovation. Which is why we say innovation-first is the approach, we stand ready to regulate when the need arises, and to the extent possible, we will use existing legislation and regulations,” Krishnan said.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 will be the first global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South.

The summit has a blockbuster lineup of CEOs headlined by Sundar Pichai (CEO of Google), Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI), Demis Hassabis (CEO of DeepMind Technologies), Dario Amodei (Anthropic CEO), Brad Smith (Microsoft president) and many others.

The collective presence of these influential tech voices under one roof elevates the summit proceedings to a centre of gravity for global tech deliberations.

Audiences will keep a close eye on frontier AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic) and leading players (Microsoft, Google) for cues and company-related updates and announcements.

Indian startup founders building indigenous models will share the summit stage, highlighting the country’s growing role in the AI stack.

The deliberations from Bharat Mandapam will influence how AI is built, governed and deployed across the world in the years ahead.