NEW DELHI — As the United States and China vie for dominance in artificial intelligence, India is positioning itself as a key player, advocating for a more inclusive global approach to the technology. This week’s India AI Impact Summit, billed as the first high-level AI gathering held in the Global South, aimed to broaden the conversation beyond the traditional superpowers and highlight the needs of countries in Latin America, Africa, and beyond.
“Long term, it’s good for the world that AI is not just viewed as a race between the U.S. And China, and I think that India is right now the player that most confidently says, ‘We reject this dynamic,’” said Jakob Mökander, director of science and technology policy at the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change.
The five-day summit, hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, wasn’t without its challenges. With over 250,000 registered attendees, early days were marked by complaints of overcrowding, long lines, visa issues, and traffic disruptions. Several high-profile figures also cancelled appearances, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang and Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who cited a desire to keep the focus on the summit’s core priorities.
Despite the logistical hurdles and absences, the summit attracted a significant number of global leaders and spurred substantial pledges. Indian conglomerates Reliance and Adani committed a combined $210 billion in investment in domestic AI and data infrastructure, a figure that compares to the more than $630 billion U.S. Tech giants are expected to spend this year. OpenAI signed a partnership deal with the Mumbai-based Tata Group, while Anthropic announced a collaboration with Infosys and opened an office in Bangalore.
“The solutions presented here — in agriculture, security, assistance for persons with disabilities, and addressing the needs of multilingual populations — are powerful examples of Made in India strength and India’s innovative capabilities,” Modi said in a speech Thursday.
The summit also saw the U.S. Announce new initiatives to increase global engagement on AI, including an AI-focused Peace Corps program and new World Bank funding to help countries purchase AI systems. Michael Kratsios, director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, emphasized the importance of localized AI governance.
“AI governance must focus on the particular needs and interests of particular people, and so it must be local,” Kratsios said in a speech Friday. “AI adoption cannot lead to a brighter future if We see subject to bureaucracies and centralized control.” He also announced the National Champions Initiative, aimed at fostering closer links between American AI ventures and companies in partner nations.
The dynamic between the U.S. And China loomed large over the event. While neither country sent heads of state, the U.S. Is keen to outcompete China, which has been actively courting international partners in the AI space. India recently joined Pax Silica, a U.S.-led coalition focused on building a resilient supply chain for critical minerals.
However, some observers cautioned against overreliance on the American “AI stack.” Critics argued that India should prioritize developing its own foundational AI models to avoid becoming overly dependent on the U.S. Despite being behind the U.S. And China in terms of AI computing power, India’s digital public infrastructure – including internet connectivity, digital payments, and digital ID systems – is considered strong.
“They are quite proud about it, that it’s sort of a third way between China’s open-source and closed-source U.S. AI,” Mökander said.
The summit also highlighted the need to address the broader societal impacts of AI. Attendees emphasized the importance of understanding the economic consequences of AI, including its effects on jobs and labor transitions. Two voluntary commitments were made: one on using data to assess the economic impact of AI, and another on improving the performance of AI models across different languages and cultural contexts.
“It is critical to understand what works, what doesn’t, and who benefits so AI applications can be designed to maximize social benefits and mitigate unintended harms,” said Iqbal Dhaliwal, global executive director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab at MIT.
“The majority of the world’s population lives in the Global South,” Dhaliwal added. “Hosting the Summit here has allowed the conversation to center the issues and use cases that will affect these billions of people.”
A minor diplomatic incident occurred during the summit when an Indian university was reportedly asked to leave after a staff member presented a robotic dog developed by a Chinese company as its own creation. The opposition Congress party criticized the incident, noting that India’s information technology minister had initially shared the erroneous report before deleting it.
During a symbolic gesture intended to demonstrate unity, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei held hands with those on either side of them, but notably did not hold hands with each other while posing with Prime Minister Modi and other tech leaders.
