For most of the AI safety summit circuit, the conversation has happened in Europe and North America. The UK hosted the first major global AI Safety Summit at Bletchley Park in 2023. Seoul hosted the second in 2024. Paris hosted the third in early 2025. The locations were not accidental — they reflected where most of the AI development was concentrated and where most of the regulatory anxiety was highest.

India hosting the fourth edition of this summit is a different kind of statement.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is scheduled to take place in New Delhi from February 16 to 20. Hosted by the Government of India under the India AI Mission in collaboration with the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the event will be held primarily at Bharat Mandapam at Pragati Maidan — the same venue that hosted the G20 Leaders Summit in 2023. This marks the first time a global AI summit of this scale will be held in the Global South.

That geographic shift carries real meaning. The countries that shape the norms for AI development — which uses are encouraged, which are restricted, who has access to the compute and data required to build frontier models — will effectively determine how AI is distributed across the global economy. India bringing that conversation to New Delhi is an attempt to ensure that the interests of the 1.4 billion people it represents, and the much larger Global South it is positioning itself to speak for, have a seat at that table from the beginning.

Global Leaders to Attend

A key highlight of the summit is the expected attendance of prominent industry figures, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is slated to address the plenary session, alongside heads of state from over 20 countries. The event will also see participation from startups, civil society representatives, and international organisations.

The presence of Pichai and Altman is significant beyond the headline value. Both Google and OpenAI have significant commercial interests in India’s growing AI market, and both companies have been navigating questions about data sovereignty, local compute infrastructure, and government partnerships. Appearing at a summit hosted by the Indian government sends a clear signal about those relationships — and about how seriously the global AI industry now takes India as both a market and a policy actor.

Focus on ‘AI for Humanity’

The core theme of the summit is “Shaping AI for Humanity, Inclusive Growth and a Sustainable Future.” The event’s stated goal is to move beyond discussions to tangible outcomes, with a particular focus on amplifying the voice of the Global South in AI development and governance.

Key topics on the agenda include AI safety, ethical deployment, data protection, and India’s vision for sovereign AI infrastructure. The sovereign AI conversation is particularly important — India has been building its own ecosystem of compute infrastructure, open datasets, and government-backed AI models specifically to reduce dependence on models developed and controlled by US or Chinese companies. The IndiaAI Mission’s focus on creating indigenous AI capabilities is driven partly by economic opportunity and partly by genuine concern that relying entirely on foreign models for critical infrastructure creates dependencies that carry national security implications.

This is not a uniquely Indian concern. The EU has made similar arguments with its AI Act. But India’s position — a large democracy with both the technical talent to build AI capabilities and the political will to assert digital sovereignty — gives these arguments a different weight and reach.

Extensive Programme and Expo

The five-day programme includes over 700 sessions covering policy discussions, academic research, and technical demonstrations. A trade expo featuring more than 300 exhibitors will run alongside the conference. An all-women hackathon is planned to encourage female participation in AI development — a detail that reflects one of the summit’s stated priorities around inclusive access to AI tools and careers.

Sessions and events will take place at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan and Ambedkar Bhawan in addition to the main venue at Bharat Mandapam.

What it means for brands and marketers watching India’s AI trajectory

For those tracking advertising and marketing, the summit carries a specific set of implications that go beyond the diplomatic dimension.

India is already the world’s fastest-growing major advertising market, and AI is reshaping how that market operates — from programmatic buying to content generation to customer service. As we covered in our analysis of the Indian advertising market in 2026, the market’s growth is increasingly being driven by digital, and digital is increasingly being driven by AI tools that most Indian brands are only beginning to understand.

The policy decisions that emerge from this summit — on data localisation, on AI-generated content standards, on which foreign AI products can operate under what conditions in India — will directly shape what tools Indian marketers have access to and what regulations govern how they use them. A framework that requires AI models to store Indian user data locally, for example, would significantly change the economics of running large language models for Indian customers. A government-developed open-source AI model that Indian companies can build on without licensing fees would lower barriers for smaller brands in ways that shift competitive dynamics.

None of these outcomes are decided at a single summit. But the conversation happening in New Delhi this week is part of the process that will determine the rules governing AI in India for the next decade — and that is worth paying close attention to.

People Also Ask (FAQs)

Where is the India AI Impact Summit 2026 being held? The summit will be held primarily at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, with additional sessions at Sushma Swaraj Bhawan and Ambedkar Bhawan.

Who are the key speakers at the India AI Impact Summit 2026? Key speakers include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

What are the dates for the AI New Delhi Summit 2026? The event is scheduled from February 16 to 20, 2026.

Why is India hosting the AI summit significant? This is the first time a global AI safety and governance summit of this scale has been hosted in the Global South, signalling India’s ambition to shape global AI policy rather than simply implement rules written elsewhere.