AI Impact Summit 2026: India has kicked off the AI Impact Summit 2026 on Monday, February 16, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. Ahead of the five-day big high-profile summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the data centers will be a key job creator for the youth, while inviting the “whole world’s data to reside” in India. He will be inaugurating the India AI Impact Expo 2026 today at 5 pm.
Sunder Pichai, Sam Altman to attend AI Summit in Delhi
World leaders, AI founders, tech moguls, and investors had started arriving at the venue in Delhi to attend the India AI Impact Summit. This is potentially the largest gathering of AI luminaries to date. The guest list includes the names of popular business tycoons such as Sundar Pichai of Alphabet Inc., Dario Amodei of Anthropic PBC, Sam Altman of OpenAI Inc., and Meta Platforms Inc.’s Alexandr Wang. Meanwhile, researchers like Yann LeCun and Arthur Mensch are also expected to participate in the event.
French President to deliver keynote
During the AI Impact summit’s last two days, on February 19 and 20, French President Emmanuel Macron will deliver the keynote, followed by the Indian Prime Minister’s remarks. For PM Modi, this summit is an opportunity to showcase the nation’s vast tech-savvy population and engineering talent as forces that could shape the global AI race in the future.
India’s proven track record of scaling technology quickly
India has a digital infrastructure powered by data from more than a billion nationals, which is identifiable through the Aadhaar card and a biometric ID system. It has a proven track record of rapidly expanding technology despite a delayed beginning, leaping from limited landlines to about a billion smartphones in less than 20 years.
The event aims to foster new partnerships and create business opportunities within the global AI ecosystem. Over 500 sessions will be held, featuring more than 3250 visionary speakers and panel members. According to reports, 13 nations’ pavilions will highlight foreign collaboration in the AI ecosystem, including participation from Russia, Japan, Australia, the UK, Italy, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Serbia, Switzerland, Tajikistan, Estonia, and African nations.
