The AI Impact Summit 2026 opens today at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, marking the start of a five-day gathering focused on the expanding global role of artificial intelligence.

Hosted by India, the summit runs from today, Monday, February 16, 2025 through February 20 and brings together Heads of state, senior government officials and leading technology executives

The India AI Impact Summit will be attended by 20 Heads of state and government, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a session on Thursday.

Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith and AMI Labs Executive Chairman Yann LeCun are also expected to attend.

Organizers said that the India AI Impact Summit is the first such summit being held in the Global South to discuss the technology developed and dominated by wealthy companies based in rich countries.

It comes at a pivotal moment as AI rapidly transforms economies, reshapes labor markets and raises questions around regulations, security and ethics.From generative AI tools that can produce

The summit, previously held in France, the U.K. and South Korea, has evolved far beyond its modest beginnings as a meeting tightly focused on the safety of cutting-edge AI systems into an all-purpose jamboree trade fair in which safety is just one aspect.

From generative AI tools that can produce text and images to advanced systems used in defense, health care and climate modeling, AI has become a central focus for governments and corporations across the world.

AI summits have evolved since the first meeting in November 2023, barely a year after the launch of ChatGPT, which stoked both excitement and fear about the capabilities of generative artificial intelligence.

Last year’s edition, the Paris AI Action Summit, was dominated by US Vice President JD Vance’s speech in which he rebuked European efforts to curb AI’s risks by warning global leaders and tech industry executives against “excessive regulation” that could hobble the rapidly growing AI industry.

Like previous editions, the India AI Impact Summit is not expected to result in a joint binding political agreement. It’s more likely that the event could end with a non-binding pledge or declaration on goals for AI development

India, the world’s most populous nation and one of the fastest-growing digital markets, sees the summit as an opportunity to project itself as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South.

Officials said the country’s experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure, including digital identity and payment platforms, offer a model for deploying AI at scale while keeping costs low.

India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, “The goal is clear: AI should be used for shaping humanity, inclusive growth and a sustainable future.”

Summit To Reflect India As Enabler Of Capabilities

Indian executives are hoping the summit will reflect the country’s recognition as an enabler of national capabilities, economic resilience and long-term capabilities.

Sumant Sinha, the CEO of the NASDAQ-listed ReNew, a clean energy company, “As India continues on the journey to become a developed nation by 2047, AI has a critical role to play in strengthening large scale systems, from energy and manufacturing to public infrastructure.”

Ahead of the India meeting, a panel of experts released a second annual safety report on the risks posed by the most advanced AI systems, including through misuse, malfunctions and so-called systemic risks.

Yoshua Bengio, a prominent scientist who led the study, said, “The whole point of this report is to build an international consensus on the state of the science regarding the emerging risks of AI.” Bengio added, “It’s really important that the world will continue to have a strong independent scientific evaluation of the risks.”

AI governance efforts are also underway elsewhere, including at the United Nations, which last year adopted a resolution to set up two key bodies on AI, a global forum and an independent scientific panel of experts.