Welfare for all, happiness for all. That is India’s mantra, and the slogan for its ambitious India AI Impact Summit from February 16 to 20 in the capital. It is the fourth in a series of annual global events focusing on artificial intelligence and the first in a developing country.
The first such event took place in Bletchley Park in the UK back in 2023, followed by summits in South Korea in 2024 and Paris last year.
For the fourth global edition, India is rolling out all the stops, with a host of world leaders, big tech honchos and Indian tycoons making an appearance.
While PM Modi will inaugurate the event, it will feature not just a good chunk of the union cabinet but virtually the who’s who of India Inc, right from Mukesh Ambani to Tata’s Chandrasekharan to Bharti Airtel’s Sunil Mittal to HCL’s Roshni Nadar.
But it’s the scale of world leaders and the poster boys of Big Tech who will be flocking to an event of this sort in the Global South that has raised all the buzz.
A total of 20 world leaders, ranging from presidents of Brazil, France and Spain to the crown prince of Abu Dhabi will be participating, beside ministerial delegation from 45 countries.
From the world of technology, the marquee names include Google’s Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, to name a few.
Sure, these top names make the India AI Impact Summit something to look forward to, but equally anticipated will be the direction to AI use that the world hopes the event can throw light on.
The relentless onslaught on this dramatic new technology has shown how transformative, as well as disruptive, it can be, and therein lies the crucial question — how do we use it responsibly, equitably and responsibly.
India, of course, has positioned its home summit to carry forward the narrative the Modi government has been pushing since 2023’s G20 Summit that it will be the flag bearer for the entire Global South on the global stage.
As the government’s AI Summit agenda reads, "AI’s capabilities create new possibilities through which access to benefits can be made available at scale. As a result, AI is seen not merely as a technological advancement but as a strategic tool to enable inclusive growth and expand access to opportunities that have historically been out of reach for large segments of the population."
This acquires significance when you consider the fear of the AI Divide and how it could actually widen, and increase inequalities instead of sorting them out. This is where the nation, and its hosting of the AI Impact summit, it believes, will help.
Beyond the big names and lofty goals, there are hardcore policy and business interests pushing this big event. India wants to make its pitch in the AI race — right now it is at best a minor player, and the idea is to position itself as a unique case separate from both the US and Chinese juggernauts spurring AI on right now.
There is also the fact that Big Tech is splurging billions and trillions on AI investment, and it is hoping that some of that share comes its way. Right now, outside of the US, these investments have mostly gone to a clutch of East Asian nations.
And for the Big Tech companies themselves? With so much heavy weight investment in AI, the pressure is building on them to show results. And what better market than India, with its massive internet-savvy user base, which could well become a revenue source for their AI tools and enterprise solutions, even if as a test-case? You don’t need AI to figure this one out!