The India AI Impact Summit 2026 officially opened at the Bharat Mandapam today, bringing together leading technology companies, international policymakers and heads of state for five days of discussions on the future of AI, making New Delhi the epicenter of the world’s artificial intelligence (AI) world.
India’s rapid growth digital economy Additionally, its young, tech-savvy population makes it a preferred destination for AI investments and AI-related innovations.
Celebrities in attendance include Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, and more.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to welcome them, emphasizing India’s role as both a market for new technologies and a talent hub.
Lalit Ahuja, CEO of ANSR, said the summit is a massive test of market potential and everyone is invited to participate as India cannot be ignored.
India aims to become a major technology hub
In recent years, the Modi government has touted its vision of India as a global technology powerhouse. The country has imposed $18 billion in sanctions on semiconductor projects to expand its supply chain and reduce dependence on imports.
The Indian market also encourages products produced for the global business community. For example, Apple has expanded domestic production. For example, Apple shipped about 14 million iPhones in India in 2025, giving it a record 9% share of the country’s smartphone market, according to new data from Counterpoint Research shared with TechCrunch.
This is a significant increase from Apple’s 7% share in 2024, and is the iPhone’s best performance to date in India, the world’s second-largest smartphone market by total unit sales.
Venture capital investors are betting big on Indian startups, and local stock exchanges are promoting initial public offerings (IPOs). Neil Shah, partner at Counterpoint Research, said government support will act as a red carpet, allowing global companies to establish themselves, expand and diversify their operations around the world.
With this support, leading global companies are set to announce major investments in India at the AI Impact Summit. Artificial intelligence will take center stage at the event, which will focus on three key areas of business: infrastructure, users and people. As demand for computing power increases, many technology companies are expected to announce investments in AI infrastructure, particularly data centers.
Amazon, Microsoft and Intel last December pledged to build AI infrastructure and chips in India, underscoring the country’s position as a key hub for such projects. On the user side, India represents one of the key markets for OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Other AI chatbots, such as Perplexity, may also compete for users and provide free access to data that can help train and improve service features. India’s lack of major domestic competitors also creates a large market for these AI products.
Access to human resources is also a big attraction. “India is a factory of AI talent,” said Shyam Arora, chief technology officer at Tech Mahindra. These centers also serve as hubs for offshore research, engineering and product development. More than 60% of GCCs established in the past two years are in the AI, data, digital engineering, or product development fields, ANSR reports. More than 80% of new GCC expected over the next 6-8 months will be AI-driven.
Companies expand AI leadership role in India
India is not only a destination for engineering talent, but also a growing number of companies are taking on senior leadership roles in the AI space. And companies are creating roles like “chief AI officers” to direct and control how AI is developed and deployed.
ANSR’s Ahuja explained that the availability of resources and talent means that many of these roles are already being formed in India. This shows that the country is not only a center for machine learning and code development, but also a place where AI policymaking and AI leadership capabilities exist.
With government support, global investment, and a growing pool of skilled professionals, India is establishing itself as one of the most important players in the global AI space. India is currently one of the fastest growing technology markets in the world and this ambition is underlined at the upcoming AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Leaders, innovators, and policymakers gather here to discuss the opportunities, challenges, and future of AI.
