The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is scheduled from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, placing India at the center of the global conversation on artificial intelligence. Organized by the Government of India under the IndiaAI Mission, the five-day event will bring together governments, tech companies, researchers, and civil society to explore how AI is being developed, governed, and applied in practice.
Unlike earlier global AI summits that focused largely on safety or regulatory alignment, the India summit emphasizes real-world impact—how AI is deployed, who benefits, and how emerging economies fit into the global AI landscape.
The current global AI summit series began with the AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in the UK on November 1–2, 2023. That meeting, convened by the UK government, concentrated primarily on risks posed by advanced AI systems. Its main outcome, the Bletchley Declaration, endorsed by 28 countries including India, the US, China, and the EU, highlighted both opportunities and dangers, calling for cooperation on research into bias, misinformation, and long-term safety. Leading AI companies such as OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Anthropic agreed to share safety testing information. However, participation was limited mostly to governments, with little focus on deployment, economic impact, or inclusion.
The AI Seoul Summit on May 21–22, 2024, hosted by South Korea, broadened the conversation to include industry, academia, and civil society. The summit produced the Seoul Declaration for Safe, Innovative and Inclusive AI, adopted by 11 countries and the EU. It encouraged interoperable global governance frameworks and voluntary transparency from AI companies on safety practices and risk mitigation. The summit also promoted collaboration on AI safety science, shared testing standards, and identifying severe risks, including potential misuse in chemical or biological contexts. Seoul marked a shift toward innovation and governance alongside risk management.
The AI Action Summit in Paris on February 10–11, 2025, co-chaired by French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, placed “action” at the center of discussions. It focused on concrete commitments around governance, societal impact, economic outcomes, and deployment. Topics included public-interest AI, multilingual models, future of work, ethics, trust, and global governance. A joint declaration, Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet, was signed by 58 countries, while the US and UK abstained due to regulatory and security concerns. The summit also launched the Current AI Initiative, backed by $400 million, and a coalition to address AI’s environmental footprint.
Building on these milestones, the India AI Impact Summit seeks to move beyond principles and declarations to tangible deployment and outcomes. It has attracted over 35,000 registrations from more than 100 countries, including heads of government, ministers, and senior tech executives. Prominent leaders such as Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, Jensen Huang, and Bill Gates are confirmed to participate. Notably, this is the first summit hosted in the Global South, signaling India’s effort to broaden the AI agenda to include developing economies.
The summit will focus on practical impact areas such as employment, trust, safety, and sector-specific applications. Planned sessions include AI in healthcare, education, and governance, as well as discussions on labor markets and model safety. Alongside policy deliberations, the India AI Impact Expo will showcase deployable AI solutions from startups, research institutions, and technology firms, highlighting real-world applications and marking a shift from the regulatory and safety-centric focus of earlier summits.
