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Day 4 of the India AI Impact Summit arrived laden with some of the biggest voices in global technology and geopolitics, as world leaders, tech CEOs and policymakers converged to chart the future of artificial intelligence.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the day by welcoming delegates from more than 100 countries, highlighting India's demographic strength, fast‑scaling digital infrastructure, and its unmatched ability to adopt emerging technologies at speed. He underscored that India's vast pool of young, tech‑enabled talent positions the nation as a driving force in the global AI ecosystem.
French President Emmanuel Macron followed with a powerful endorsement of India's digital leap, calling the country's digital ID system for 1.4 billion people something “no other nation could build.” Praising India as the world's second‑largest developer community, he described AI as “an enabler for our humanity” and urged nations to collaborate so no country ends up merely a marketplace for others.
Their addresses set a high‑energy tone for a day shaped by major global announcements—the UN's proposed $3‑billion Global AI Fund, warnings from industry leaders about an emerging AI divide, and Indian policymakers outlining how the nation is building across every layer of the AI stack.
Stay with us as we bring you every major announcement, insight, and moment—live throughout the day.
Sectors, including healthcare, education, deep research, and medical sciences, will flourish with the power of Artificial Intelligence, Bharti Group Chairman Sunil Mittal said on Thursday. Mittal, speaking at the India AI Impact Summit, said that AI is becoming an integral part of the company's operations
"We can talk about healthcare, education, deep research, medical sciences...all those areas will flourish on the back of this (AI). So from our company's standpoint, AI is becoming a really integral part of how we operate or serve our customers, build our networks and manage our networks," Mittal said.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai offered a measured tone, calling artificial intelligence "the biggest platform shift of our lifetime".
Read Full Story Here: Google CEO Sundar Pichai Warns Against 'AI Divide' At India Summit
The following dignitaries will speak at the AI Impact Summit 2026 from 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday introduced 'Vision Manav' as an overarching roadmap for building artificial intelligence infrastructure in India for global good. In his keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, Modi said the vision will work for human welfare and ensure people don't become mere a source of data for AI.
Read More: PM Modi Unveils Vision 'MANAV' For AI Infra In India
#WATCH | World leaders and top tech bosses pose for a 'Family Photo' at #AIImpactSummit2026#AISummit pic.twitter.com/D1gxJxk9JM
— NDTV (@ndtv) February 19, 2026
Today at 2:30 pm, Jeet Adani will address the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. His speech will focus on three defining pillars for India's AI century:
1. Energy sovereignty
2. Compute & cloud sovereignty
3. Services sovereignty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the central role of India's youth in accelerating the country's AI journey, calling their rapid adoption of new technologies 'unprecedented' and a key driver of national innovation. He said India has emerged as the centre of a tech‑enabled ecosystem, supported by the world’s largest pool of tech talent and a generation eager to experiment and build with AI.
Modi noted that the strong presence of young innovators gives him confidence that India will continue to lead in responsible, future‑focused tech development. He described the summit as a proud moment for the Global South, reflecting the region’s growing influence in emerging technologies.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has outlined India’s vision for responsible, human‑centric artificial intelligence and highlighting key initiatives launched at the event.
PM Modi stressed the urgent need for greater awareness and safeguards to protect children in the digital ecosystem shaped by widespread AI adoption.
PM Modi has called for clear, trusted markers that help citizens identify verified and authentic content in an era of deepfakes and AI‑generated misinformation.
He urged the global community to take a collective pledge to steer AI development toward societal benefit, inclusion, and peace.
Modi said we are entering an era where humans and technology co‑create, shaping new possibilities across industries.
The PM emphasised that tomorrow’s workplaces will remain inclusive, human‑centric, and collaborative.
Reiterating India’s vision, he said humans will not be displaced but will co‑evolve with AI, leveraging it as an empowering tool.
A key warning: "We must ensure human beings do not become merely datasets for AI systems."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has introduced India’s new AI governance framework, titled ‘MANAV’, during his address at the India AI Impact Summit 2026. The vision outlines five core principles that will guide the country’s AI infrastructure and policy direction going forward.
At the India AI Impact Summit, one of the world’s largest global AI gatherings, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed participants from over 100 countries. He emphasised India’s strength as a nation with one of the world’s largest youth populations and a rapidly expanding pool of technology‑enabled talent.
The Prime Minister highlighted that India has a unique ability to adopt and scale emerging technologies at unprecedented speed, positioning the country as a key driver in the global AI ecosystem.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a standout address at the AI Impact Summit, opening with strong praise for India’s digital achievements. Calling India’s digital ID system for 1.4 billion people something “no other nation could build,” Macron positioned the country as a global force in technology and innovation.
He highlighted India’s rise as the world’s second‑largest developer community and noted its rapidly expanding pool of AI engineers—key drivers of the global AI ecosystem.
Macron described AI as “an enabler for our humanity,” urging nations to move forward collectively and ensure that no country is reduced to merely serving as a marketplace for others.
On digital safety, he called on governments and regulators to make social platforms safer, stressing the need to protect children from online abuse. He added that digital‑related abuse will be a priority for the upcoming G7 agenda.
Macron also announced that France is doubling its number of AI scientists, reinforcing the country’s commitment to building a secure, ethical, and innovative AI future.
The United Nations has proposed a $3 billion Global AI Fund aimed at ensuring that the benefits of artificial intelligence are shared equitably across nations. The initiative focuses on three priorities:
Google CEO Sundar Pichai struck an optimistic but measured tone at the AI Summit, calling artificial intelligence “the biggest platform shift of our lifetime.” He said AI holds the power to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges—from healthcare breakthroughs to climate solutions—provided the ecosystem builds it responsibly.
Pichai highlighted language inclusion as one of the most exciting frontiers, stressing that AI systems must reflect the linguistic diversity of countries like India. This, he said, is essential to ensuring that technology works for everyone, not just for English‑speaking or digitally privileged communities.
He cautioned that the digital divide must not morph into an AI divide, urging governments to take a proactive role in shaping policies, guardrails, and access frameworks around AI adoption. Without this, he warned, the benefits of AI could end up unevenly distributed.
On the industry side, Pichai said tech companies must 'step up' to drive real productivity gains, build practical tools, and ensure that this technological leap genuinely improves people’s lives. He called this moment a 'once‑in‑a‑generation opportunity' to reset how society approaches innovation. Adding a local flavour, Pichai noted that Google is still working to make Waymo's self‑driving technology reliable enough to handle the organised chaos of Indian roads—something he described as a fascinating and ongoing challenge.
Catch all the action at the India AI Summit 2026 with NDTV Profit! The summit is bringing together global tech leaders, policymakers, and innovators to shape the future of AI in India and beyond. Watch video here:
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, while addressing the summit, underscored India's growing importance in the global AI landscape. He noted that India's tech ecosystem has set a strong benchmark for the Global South and confirmed that Anthropic is deepening its presence in the country.
The CEO revealed ongoing partnerships with Infosys and other Indian companies, emphasising the company’s interest in collaborating with India on AI testing, safety, and future development frameworks. Anthropic has already opened a new office in Bengaluru, signalling its long‑term commitment. He added that AI will enlarge — rather than shrink — the global economic pie, and affirmed that Anthropic is actively expanding its business footprint in India.
Meanwhile, to understand what Anthropic has been the talk of the town, here is an infographic story. Check it out HERE.
At the AI Summit, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran highlighted how artificial intelligence is set to redefine the global technology landscape—and why India has a unique opportunity to lead this transformation.
Chandrasekaran called AI the single biggest opportunity before the IT industry, noting that enterprises now have the chance to integrate AI across every layer of their operations. From core processes to customer-facing functions, AI-led transformation, he said, will unlock unprecedented efficiency, innovation, and scale.
Tata Group’s Big Bet on AI Infrastructure: Reaffirming the group’s long-term commitment to digital futures, Chandrasekaran revealed that the Tata Group is building one of India’s largest data‑centre capacities. This massive infrastructure push is designed to support the growing compute needs of AI, cloud, and next‑generation enterprise technologies.
Building an AI Operating System for Industry: Chandrasekaran also underscored the work underway at TCS and Tata Communications, which are jointly building an AI operating system tailored for industrial ecosystems. This platform aims to help enterprises deploy AI seamlessly, securely, and at scale—creating a common AI fabric for manufacturing, logistics, energy, and other sectors.
Chairman of the Tata Group, N Chandrasekaran, says, "Over the past few years, under our Prime Minister's vision, India has treated AI as a strategic national capability, aligning the full stack from chips to systems to energy to applications. Through Semicon India, an India AI mission and most importantly, the recent reforms such as the Shanti Act for clean energy. We are building AI at scale with trust, resilience and long-term competitiveness..."
Ashwini Vaishnaw, while addressing the India AI Summit on Day 4 said India is advancing its AI ecosystem by strengthening all five layers of the AI stack—from applications to energy. Here’s how:
#WATCH | Delhi | At the #IndiaAIImpactSummit2026, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw says, "Welcome to the first AI summit in the global south and the biggest AI summit so far. We have participation from 118 countries. Thank you all for making this summit a grand success...PM… pic.twitter.com/e5hjEr4Z3H
— ANI (@ANI) February 19, 2026
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and OpenAI have announced a multi-dimensional strategic partnership, that will drive AI-powered innovation across enterprise, consumer, and social sectors. This partnership spans multiple high-impact areas, including powering AI-led innovation across Tata Group companies, joint efforts to drive AI transformation across industries globally, and setting up AI infrastructure.
Read Full News: Tata Group, OpenAI In Pact To Train Employees, Build Data Centre Capacity
Prime Minister Narendra Modi participates in the India AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam, Delhi.
PM Narendra Modi will participate in the Opening Ceremony of India AI Impact Summit 2026, which will start at around 9.40 a.m. He will then address the ceremony around 10.25 a.m.
AI Impact Summit 2026 Day 4
Following the Inaugural Session, invitees may attend other scheduled sessions at Level 3, exit the Level 3 Plenary Hall and proceed to the Food Court or the AI Impact Expo Arena. Re-entry to Level 3 shall be permitted, subject to local access arrangements and availability of seats.
Self-drive vehicles: Limited parking facilities shall be available at the following locations:
Intermittent traffic restrictions may be experienced during the day, in and around the ITPO area. All registered delegates, including invitees, speakers, attendees, and other stakeholders are requested to take note of this revised access protocol and plan their arrival accordingly.
All concerned are advised to cooperate fully with security and traffic personnel and to strictly adhere to the instructions issued on-site to ensure smooth and secure conduct of the event.
The Gates Foundation India announced that Bill Gates will not deliver his planned keynote at the February 2026 India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, citing a focus on summit priorities; Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, will represent the organisation instead.
— Gates Foundation India (@BMGFIndia) February 19, 2026
Today, the event will start at 9:40 a.m. with the welcome remarks by MC. An official video of 5 minutes will be played after that. The rest of the schedule from 10:00 a.m to 12:00 noon is as follows:
Inaugural session and other events on February 19 are invite basis only. Guests need to have physical passes. Normal QR codes for delegates will not work. Guests to be seated by 7.30 a.m.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to inaugurate the India AI Impact Summit 2026 today. The opening ceremony will also feature addresses by French President Emmanuel Macron, United Nations Secretary‑General António Guterres, and several top industry leaders from around the world.
Following the inaugural session, Modi and other dignitaries are scheduled to tour the India AI Impact Expo 2026, which showcases country pavilions and technology demonstrations from participating nations.
Around noon, the Prime Minister will take part in the Leaders’ Plenary, a platform bringing together Heads of State, ministers, and senior representatives of multilateral institutions. The session will focus on global and national AI priorities, including governance frameworks, infrastructure development, and international collaboration.
Later in the day, beginning at 5.30 p.m, Modi will join a CEO roundtable featuring senior executives from major global technology and industry firms. Discussions are expected to centre on investment opportunities, research partnerships, supply‑chain resilience, and the deployment of AI systems at scale.
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