Global tech giants eye India as AI impact summit kicks off in New Delhi

New Delhi has become the focal point of the global artificial intelligence (AI) world as the India AI Impact Summit 2026 officially kicked off today at Bharat Mandapam, bringing together leading technology firms, international policymakers, and heads of state for five days of discussions on the future of AI.

India’s burgeoning digital economy and a young, tech-savvy population are making it a favored destination for investments in and innovations related to AI. 

The big names attending include Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to welcome them, highlighting India’s role as both a market for new technologies and a talent hub. 

Lalit Ahuja, CEO of ANSR, said that the summit is a massive validation of the market’s potential and that everyone is coming because India cannot be ignored.

India pushes to become a major tech hub

In the past few years, Modi’s government has asserted its vision of India as a global tech powerhouse. The nation has sanctioned $18 billion in semiconductor projects to expand its own supply chain and reduce reliance on imports. 

The Indian market also encourages products produced for the global business community. Apple, for instance, has increased its production in the country. In 2025, for instance, Apple shipped roughly 14 million iPhones in India, capturing a record 9% slice of the country’s smartphone market, according to new data from Counterpoint Research shared with TechCrunch.

The figure marks a significant jump from Apple’s 7% share in 2024, making this the iPhone’s best performance yet in India, which ranks as the world’s second-largest smartphone market by total units sold.

Venture capital investors are betting big on startups in India, while local stock exchanges have boosted initial public offerings. Neil Shah, a partner at Counterpoint Research, said that government support acts as a red carpet, allowing global companies to establish themselves, expand, and diversify their operations worldwide.

Backed by this support, leading global companies are set to announce significant investments in India at the AI Impact Summit. Artificial intelligence takes center stage at the event, focusing on three key areas for businesses: infrastructure, users, and talent. As demand for computing power grows, many tech firms are expected to unveil investments in AI infrastructure, particularly in data centers.

Amazon, Microsoft, and Intel had pledged last December to build their AI infrastructure and chips in India, underscoring that the country is positioning itself as a vital location for such projects. On the user side, India represents one of OpenAI’s key markets for ChatGPT.

Other AI chatbots, such as Perplexity, also compete for users, at times offering free access to data useful for training and improving service features. India’s lack of major domestic competitors also creates a large market for these AI products. 

Talent access is another big draw. “India is an AI talent factory,” said Tech Mahindra’s chief technology officer, Sham Arora. These centers also serve as hubs for offshore research, engineering, and product development. Over 60% of GCCs founded in the last two years are in AI, data, digital engineering, or product development, ANSR reported. Over 80% of the projected new GCCs for the next six to eight months are to be AI-led.

Companies expand AI leadership roles in India

India not only offers a destination for engineering talent, but more corporations are also seeking to fill senior leadership roles in AI. And companies are creating roles such as “chief AI officer” to direct and control how AI is developed and adopted. 

Ahuja of ANSR explained that the availability of resources and talent means that many of these roles are already being formed in India. This demonstrates that the country is not just a center of machine learning and code development but also a place where AI policy-making and AI leadership capabilities exist. 

With government support, global investment, and a growing pool of skilled professionals, India stands positioned as one of the most important players in the world AI landscape. India is now among the world’s fastest-growing technology markets, and this ambition is also emphasized by the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. Leaders, innovators, and policymakers gather here to discuss opportunities, challenges, and the future of AI.

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