{"id":94143,"date":"2026-02-18T20:13:30","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tech.einnews.com\/article\/893538881"},"modified":"2026-02-18T20:13:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T23:13:30","slug":"indias-modi-calls-for-inclusive-tech-at-ai-summit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/2026\/02\/18\/indias-modi-calls-for-inclusive-tech-at-ai-summit\/","title":{"rendered":"India’s Modi calls for inclusive tech at AI summit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Artificial intelligence must be accessible and inclusive, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told world leaders and tech CEOs on Thursday, at a summit focused on the fast-evolving technology.<\/p>\n

His call was echoed by UN chief Antonio Guterres, who warned the gathering that AI cannot be left to “the whims of a few billionaires”.<\/p>\n

“We must democratise AI. It must become a medium for inclusion and empowerment,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi.<\/p>\n

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“We are entering an era where humans and intelligence systems co-create, co-work and co-evolve,” he added. “We must resolve that AI is used for the global common good.”<\/p>\n

Frenzied demand for generative AI has turbocharged profits for many companies while fuelling anxiety about the risks to society and the planet.<\/p>\n

The AI Impact Summit is the fourth annual international gathering to discuss how to handle it, following previous meetings in Paris, Seoul and Britain.<\/p>\n

Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, Google’s Sundar Pichai and other tech bosses are speaking on Thursday, but Microsoft founder Bill Gates cancelled just hours before his speech.<\/p>\n

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Gates, facing questions over his ties to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, withdrew to “ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities”, the Gates Foundation said.<\/p>\n

Another foundation official will take the place of Gates, who said this month he regrets “every minute” he spent with Epstein.<\/p>\n

The mere mention of someone’s name in the Epstein files does not in itself imply any wrongdoing by that person.<\/p>\n

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– ‘Must belong to everyone’ –<\/p>\n

This year’s AI summit — the largest yet — has been attended by tens of thousands of people from across the sector, including dozens of world leaders and ministers.<\/p>\n

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“AI must belong to everyone,” Guterres said Thursday, calling on tech tycoons to support a $3 billion global fund to ensure open access to the technology.<\/p>\n

“The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries — or left to the whims of a few billionaires,” he said.<\/p>\n

Many researchers and AI safety campaigners believe stronger action is needed to combat issues ranging from sexualised deepfakes to AI-enabled online scams and surveillance.<\/p>\n

Last year’s host, French President Emmanuel Macron, said he was determined to ensure safe oversight of the fast-evolving technology.<\/p>\n

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“Europe is not blindly focused on regulation — Europe is a space for innovation and investment, but it is a safe space,” he said.<\/p>\n

Last year in Paris, US Vice President JD Vance had warned against “excessive regulation” that “could kill a transformative sector”.<\/p>\n

This year’s US government delegation, led by the under secretary of commerce for international trade, has kept a low profile.<\/p>\n

– Big deals –<\/p>\n

As the first global AI meeting held in a developing country, the five-day summit, which wraps up Friday, has also been a chance for India to boost its position in the booming sector.<\/p>\n

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The nation expects more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years, and US tech titans have unveiled new deals, investments and infrastructure for the South Asian country this week.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, ChatGPT maker OpenAI and Indian IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) announced a plan to build hyperscale AI data centre capacity in the South Asian country.<\/p>\n

The previous day Google said it planned to lay subsea cables as part of an existing $15 billion AI infrastructure investment.<\/p>\n

US chip behemoth Nvidia — the world’s most valuable company — also said it was teaming up with Indian cloud computing providers to provide advanced processors for data centres that can train and run AI systems.<\/p>\n

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AI data centres are under construction worldwide on a massive scale, as companies race to develop super-intelligent systems.<\/p>\n

The huge amounts of electricity needed to power them and water to cool hot servers have sparked alarm at a time when countries have pledged to decarbonise their grids to try and slow climate change.<\/p>\n

– Long way to go –<\/p>\n

Last year India leapt to third place in an annual global ranking of AI competitiveness calculated by Stanford researchers, although experts say it has a long way to go before it can rival the United States and China.<\/p>\n

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in town to attend the AI summit and hold talks with Modi, including on rare earths.<\/p>\n

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Leaders are expected to deliver a statement on Friday about how they plan to handle AI technology.<\/p>\n

One fear is disruption to the job market — especially in India, where millions of people are employed in call centres and tech support services.<\/p>\n

Some say the broad focus of the event and vague promises made at previous global AI summits mean that concrete commitments are unlikely.<\/p>\n

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… s Sundar Pichai and other tech<\/span> bosses are speaking on … Guterres said Thursday, calling on tech<\/span> tycoons to support a $3 … oversight of the fast-evolving technology<\/span>. Advertisement "Europe is … employed in call centres and tech<\/span> support services. Some say the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-94143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94143\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new7.shop\/zerocostfreehost\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}