Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has inaugurated India’s first time hosting of the landmark AI Impact Summit (2026) on Monday. This will be the first time that Southeast Asia will welcome tech giants from around the world for this AI-focused five day convention.
New Delhi will be welcoming AI giants from the Silicon Valley to participate in this summit. As per reports, ChatGPT chief Sam Altman is expected to be in attendance alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and billionaire Bill Gates among others.
The aim of debuting the event in India is to bridge the AI divide between the Western and Eastern parts of the world and democratizing resources. India, being touted among the most tech savvy and biggest smartphone markets in the world, made for an eligible choice for hosting the summit.
According to PM Modi, “the AI Impact Summit will enrich global discourse on diverse aspects of AI, such as innovation, collaboration, responsible use and more. The theme of the Summit is Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya or welfare for all, happiness for all, reflecting our shared commitment to harnessing Artificial Intelligence for human-centric progress.”
Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) recently said that this conference is the biggest AI summit so far, with over 500 sessions listed and more than a hundred CEOs in attendance.
MeitY has also said that topics like the use of AI in the energy sector, health industry, and content generation will also be part of crucial discussions at the suimmit.
The iconic Bharat Mandapam located in the heart of India’s capital has been chosen as the venue for this conference that is slated to culminate on February 20.
Visuals from the first day of the event have already started making the rounds on social media.
Google has confirmed that DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis will be delivering a keynote speaker at the conference.
Anthropic boss Dario Amodei is also reportedly reaching India to be part of the event.
AI-focussed conferences have become more common in the last few years.
Between 2023 and 2025, similar AI-focussed global events have been hosted in the U.K., South Korea, France, and now India.