New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday emphasised the democratisation of Artificial Intelligence (AI), stating that the technology must become a tool of inclusion and empowerment, particularly for the Global South.
Inaugurating the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, the Prime Minister said the world is entering an era where humans and intelligent systems will co-create, co-work and co-evolve. He noted that AI will make work smarter, more efficient and more impactful, while urging the global community to develop a collective commitment toward AI for global welfare.
India Sees AI as Opportunity, Not Threat
PM Modi said India views AI as a blueprint for the future and is not only developing new technologies but rapidly adopting them. He described India as one of the world’s largest technology hubs and highlighted the significance of hosting the summit in New Delhi as a matter of pride for both India and the Global South.
He compared AI’s transformative potential to historic turning points that reshaped civilizations. “The key question is not what AI can do in the future, but how humanity chooses to use it today,” he said, drawing parallels with nuclear energy — a technology that can either disrupt or deliver solutions depending on its direction.
Human Vision for AI Governance
The Prime Minister outlined a “Human Vision for AI,” anchored in ethical systems, accountable governance, national sovereignty, accessibility, inclusivity, legitimacy and fairness. He stressed that AI must remain under human control while being given space to innovate responsibly.
Calling for open collaboration, Modi said AI should be shared globally, encouraging open code and collaborative development so that young innovators can make AI safer and more effective.
Need for Global Standards on Deepfakes and Misinformation
Highlighting emerging risks, the Prime Minister raised concerns over deepfakes and misleading digital content destabilising societies. He proposed authenticity labels for digital content, similar to nutrition labels on food products, and stressed the importance of watermarking and clear source standards for AI-generated text, images and videos.
He also underscored the importance of child safety, stating that AI systems must be safe and supervised, similar to school curricula.
India Building Robust AI Ecosystem
PM Modi highlighted India’s growing AI ecosystem — from semiconductor and chip manufacturing to quantum computing, secure data centres and a dynamic startup environment. He said India’s diversity, democracy and demographic scale make it an ideal testing ground for scalable AI solutions with global applicability.
He invited global innovators to “Design and Develop in India, Deliver for the World and Humanity.”
Global Leaders Back Responsible AI
French President Emmanuel Macron said the AI Action Summit co-hosted by India and France in Paris last year laid down global guiding principles for AI. He praised India’s digital infrastructure achievements, including large-scale digital identity systems, high-volume payment platforms and digital health initiatives.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for AI to be inclusive and not dictated by a handful of nations. He proposed the creation of a global AI fund to support infrastructure development in developing countries.
India’s AI Stack and New Commitments
Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government is working across all five layers of the AI stack. He highlighted the launch of a common computing platform providing 38,000 GPUs to startups, researchers and academic institutions at affordable rates, with plans to add 20,000 more GPUs soon.
The minister also announced the New Delhi Frontier AI Impact Commitments, focusing on:
- Evidence-based policymaking on jobs, skills and economic transformation through anonymised AI data insights
- Strengthening multilingual and contextual AI evaluation, especially for Global South languages and real-world applications
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 reinforces India’s ambition to become a global AI powerhouse while ensuring that technological progress remains ethical, inclusive and development-oriented.
