Set for February 19–20 in New Delhi, the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 marks the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South. Anchored in People, Planet and Progress, it aims to bridge the global AI divide by moving from principles to tangible, inclusive and sustainable outcomes.
The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 arrives at a moment when artificial intelligence is no longer a speculative force shaping distant futures, but an active, accelerating presence redefining economies, societies, and geopolitics in real time. Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the France AI Action Summit, the gathering scheduled for February 19–20 in New Delhi is being positioned as a decisive global inflection point—one that moves the world’s AI discourse from principles and pledges to measurable outcomes and demonstrable impact. Anchored in the ideas of People, Planet, and Progress, the summit seeks to answer a question that has grown increasingly urgent: how can AI’s extraordinary power be harnessed to advance humanity equitably, inclusively, and sustainably?
Artificial intelligence today stands at the threshold of reshaping human civilisation in ways comparable to the industrial revolution or the advent of the internet. Its capacity to process information across languages, modalities, and contexts opens unprecedented possibilities in healthcare, education, agriculture, governance, and climate action. For developing countries, particularly those in the Global South, AI offers a rare opportunity to leapfrog traditional developmental pathways, bypassing decades of incremental progress through scalable, technology-enabled solutions. Multilingual and multimodal AI systems can bring services to populations historically excluded by geography, literacy, or infrastructure, reframing AI not merely as a technological upgrade but as a strategic enabler of inclusive growth.
This promise has not gone unnoticed by the international community. Over the past four years, there has been a remarkable surge in multilateral initiatives aimed at shaping AI’s development responsibly. From the G20 AI Principles and the United Nations’ resolutions on artificial intelligence to frameworks advanced by the Global Partnership on AI, the African Declaration on AI, and the more recent Hamburg Declaration on Responsible AI, global consensus has steadily emerged around the need for coordinated action. These efforts acknowledge a fundamental truth: AI’s transformative impact transcends national borders, making unilateral approaches insufficient in the face of shared risks and opportunities.
Yet beneath this growing architecture of global principles lies a persistent and troubling disconnect between aspiration and reality. The so-called Global AI Divide continues to widen, with computational resources, datasets, talent, and infrastructure concentrated in a small number of countries and corporations. This concentration not only limits who builds and benefits from AI, but also constrains the development of systems that are socially, culturally, and linguistically contextual. For large parts of the Global South, AI remains something that is consumed rather than shaped—imported solutions that may not reflect local needs, values, or realities.
At the same time, the rapid proliferation of AI across sectors is creating new challenges that demand immediate attention. Automation and algorithmic decision-making are disrupting traditional employment patterns, raising fears of job displacement even as they create new roles. Biases embedded in data and models risk reinforcing existing social inequalities at scale. Meanwhile, the exponential growth in AI computing is driving up energy consumption, complicating global climate goals and underscoring the environmental cost of digital progress. These tensions highlight why the global conversation must now shift decisively from high-level frameworks to concrete interventions that address AI’s promise and its perils in equal measure.
It is within this context that the India–AI Impact Summit 2026 seeks to redefine the global agenda. As the first-ever global AI summit hosted in the Global South, it carries symbolic and strategic weight. India’s role as host signals a deliberate effort to rebalance the geography of AI governance, amplifying voices that have often been underrepresented in shaping global technology norms. The summit builds on the momentum of earlier high-level forums, including the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit in 2023, the AI Seoul Summit in 2024, and the France AI Action Summit in 2025, while marking a transition from safety and intent to action and impact.
Unlike previous gatherings that focused primarily on risk mitigation or principle-setting, the New Delhi summit is framed as a forum for delivery. Its stated aim is to strengthen existing multilateral initiatives while advancing new priorities, cooperative frameworks, and tangible deliverables. The emphasis on “impact” reflects a growing recognition that trust in AI governance will be built not through declarations alone, but through outcomes that can be seen, measured, and felt by societies.
Central to the summit’s vision is a people-centric approach to AI development. This includes leveraging AI to improve access to healthcare and education, enhance public service delivery, and empower communities rather than marginalise them. By foregrounding inclusivity, the summit seeks to ensure that AI systems are designed with diverse populations in mind, particularly those who stand to gain the most from technology-enabled solutions. The goal is not only to expand access, but to democratise the capacity to innovate, enabling countries of the Global South to move from being passive adopters to active creators in the AI ecosystem.
The environmental dimension is equally prominent. As concerns grow over the carbon footprint of large-scale AI models and data centres, the summit’s focus on Planet underscores the need for sustainable AI practices. This includes exploring energy-efficient computing, greener infrastructure, and the use of AI itself to address climate challenges—from optimising energy grids to improving climate modelling and disaster response. In doing so, the summit seeks to align digital transformation with global sustainability goals rather than allowing the two to drift into conflict.
Progress, the third pillar of the summit, is framed not simply as technological advancement but as shared advancement. This entails building capacity, sharing knowledge, and fostering partnerships that bridge divides between nations, sectors, and communities. By promoting cooperative frameworks, the summit aims to counter the concentration of AI power and ensure that benefits are distributed more equitably across regions and populations.
The choice of India as host is significant beyond symbolism. As a country with a vast digital population, a growing AI ecosystem, and deep experience in deploying technology at scale—from digital identity to payments—India occupies a unique position at the intersection of innovation and inclusion. Hosting the summit in New Delhi places the Global South at the centre of global AI deliberations, reinforcing the message that the future of AI governance cannot be shaped by a handful of actors alone.
As the world approaches February 2026, expectations around the India–AI Impact Summit are high. It is being watched not only as a diplomatic gathering, but as a test of whether global AI cooperation can evolve from dialogue to delivery. In an era defined by rapid technological change and deepening geopolitical complexity, the summit’s success will be measured by its ability to translate shared principles into shared progress—ensuring that AI advances humanity, protects the planet, and opens pathways to opportunity for all.
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