Tech billionaires arrive for Delhi AI exhibition as Modi competes for influence in the south.

This week, the bustling city of Delhi will welcome prominent Silicon Valley tech billionaires for an AI summit organized by India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. This summit aims to bring together leaders from the Global South, who will discuss strategies for controlling and utilizing rapidly evolving AI technologies.

The week-long AI Impact Summit will be attended by thousands of tech executives, government officials, and experts dedicated to AI safety. Trillions of dollars in tech investments will be represented alongside officials from countries like Kenya and Indonesia, where the average monthly income is less than $1,000. The disparity in economic status highlights the differing stakes countries have in the burgeoning world of AI.

Amid this quickening pace of AI adoption, key industry figures such as Sundar Pichai of Google, Sam Altman from OpenAI, and Dario Amodei of Anthropic are set to make appearances. Attendees also include Rishi Sunak and George Osborne—notable figures pushing for widespread AI adoption, with business ties to major tech companies. Sunak has freshly aligned himself with enterprises like Microsoft and Anthropic, while Osborne is working to expand the use of ChatGPT beyond its existing user base of 800 million.

Prime Minister Modi, addressing the summit on Thursday, is keen to position India as the primary AI hub for South Asia and Africa. Topics of discussion are expected to cover the transformative potential of AI in crucial sectors such as agriculture, water management, and public health. Representatives from governments in countries such as Kenya, Senegal, Mauritius, Togo, Indonesia, and Egypt are also expected to attend, highlighting a collaborative approach to technology deployment.

However, Modi’s enthusiasm for AI comes with concerns voiced by civil liberties organizations. Recently, these groups flagged serious issues regarding the potential use of AI in augmenting state surveillance, discriminating against minorities, and influencing electoral outcomes. Nevertheless, Modi emphasized the goal of “harnessing artificial intelligence for human-centric progress,” promoting the summit under the slogan: “Welfare for all, happiness for all.”

Observers of the summit anticipate a struggle between a form of AI colonialism driven by U.S. tech firms and an alternative approach termed “techno-Gandhism.” This latter concept promotes the use of AI for social justice, aiming to uplift marginalized communities. Following previous global AI summits held in the UK, South Korea, and France, this meeting in Delhi marks the first occasion where such discussions take place in the Global South.

Commentators from India assert that the merit of AI lies not in its technical complexity but rather in its capacity to improve the living conditions of individuals facing challenging circumstances in the Global South. In stark contrast, American AI companies are racing to achieve dominance, competing fiercely with one another and with Chinese firms, focusing predominantly on applications like commerce, personal companionship, and creating automated systems that threaten to replace white-collar jobs.

If a mediator is needed, António Guterres, the United Nations Secretary-General, will be present to voice the importance of equitable AI access. He recently stated that it would be “totally unacceptable that AI would be just a privilege of the most developed countries or only a division between two superpowers.”

The AI Impact Summit in India represents the fourth iteration of this event, initially launched in 2023 by Sunak at Bletchley Park in the UK, with a focus on international coordination aimed at mitigating catastrophic risks associated with advanced AI technologies. This was followed by gatherings in Seoul in 2024 and Paris in 2025, which showcased varying degrees of commitment to safety measures. At these events, U.S. officials have shown reluctance to prioritize safety, as illustrated by vice-president JD Vance’s remarks suggesting a shift away from a focus on safety towards a more aggressive push for innovation.

Safety considerations remain a point of discussion in Delhi, with Yoshua Bengio—one of the most influential figures in AI—expected to share his concerns regarding the vulnerabilities posed by powerful AI systems, which could potentially facilitate cyberattacks and bioweapons proliferation.

Bengio emphasized the need for world leaders to acknowledge the pace of AI advancements alongside the necessity for robust risk management strategies: “The capabilities of AI have continued to advance, and although mitigation and risk management of AI has also progressed, it has happened not as quickly.” He further stressed the urgency of leaders in today’s world to grasp the ramifications of AI technology and take immediate action.

One prominent figure ensuring that safety remains a priority at the summit is Nicolas Miaihle, who co-founded the AI Safety Connect initiative. He highlighted that the summit takes place within the context of ongoing AI-enabled conflicts in regions like Ukraine and the Middle East. “The existential risks are not going anywhere,” Miaihle stated. “The trillions are pouring in but we are very far away from securing these models. This poses profound implications for democracy, mental health, and warfare.”

Meanwhile, the U.S. administration continues its longstanding policy of resisting regulatory constraints on American AI companies. High-level representation from the White House is unlikely, with Sriram Krishnan, the senior AI policy advisor, being the most senior speaker confirmed for the summit agenda.

“Considering the current U.S. administration, achieving any consensus on a regulatory framework seems highly unlikely,” a senior representative from an AI firm commented.

Technology giants like Google are particularly interested in leveraging AI for educational purposes in India. Given the country’s array of languages, large language models that can operate across multiple dialects offer significant advantages.

Owen Larter, head of frontier AI policy and public affairs at Google DeepMind, remarked, “We’re focused on access and adoption, working to ensure the technology is available as broadly as possible. The educational sector in India shows remarkable engagement; about 90% of teachers and students are already incorporating AI into their learning processes. As part of our promotional efforts, we’ve granted two million students access to our premium subscription services free of charge.”

Google’s engagement with India extends to significant financial investments, including a $15 billion commitment in partnership with Gautam Adani, one of India’s wealthiest billionaires. This partnership focuses on creating a large-scale AI datacentre hub in the coastal city of Visakhapatnam, bolstered by subsea cables connecting to global networks.