AI Summit 2026 LIVE: PM Modi Advocates Structured Plan for Safe and Responsible AI Growth

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is being held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. It is the first AI Summit to be held in the Global South. The previous sessions were organised in the UK, South Korea, and France,

Along with PM Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani were among the keynote speakers at the summit.

Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder and Gates Foundation Chair, was also expected to be present at the summit. However, based on a statement from the Gates Foundation, it was announced that Bill Gates will no longer be attending the summit.

PM unveils MANAV vision for AI

Speaking at the AI Summit 2026 opening ceremony, PM Modi revealed that India will be focusing on its AI development with the MANAV vision. This vision will allow AI to be grown and developed ethically and responsibly.

The prime minister added that AI is not just about intelligent machines but about enhancing human potential. “AI is making machines intelligent and, at the same time, it is multiplying human capabilities many times over,” he said. “The real question today is not what AI can do, but what humans can do with it.”

Macron praises India’s digital transformation

Coming from Mumbai, French President Emmanuel Macron praised India’s digital transformation.

“10 years ago, a street vendor in Mumbai could not open a bank account. No address, no papers, no access and today the same vendor accepts payments on his phone,” Macron remarked, illustrating the scale of financial inclusion achieved through digital means.

President Macron further emphasised that India has set a unique precedent that remains unmatched globally.

“India built something that no other country in the world has built. A digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payment system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month. A health infrastructure that has issued 500 million digital health IDs. Here are the results. They call it the India Stack Open Interoperable Sovereign,” he said.

Jio vows to lead AI growth in India, to invest ₹10 lakh crore

Mukesh Ambani has vowed an investment of up to ₹10 lakh crore over the next seven years to build India’s AI ecosystem.

Delivering his address at the AI Summit, the Reliance Chairman said that Jio Platforms with Reliance Industries will invest ₹10 lakh crore over the next seven years, starting this year.

“This isn’t a speculative investment. It is not for chasing valuation. This is patient, disciplined nation-building capital,” he added.