New Delhi: India is set to host a landmark global event, the AI Impact Summit, from February 15 to 20, 2026, in New Delhi, drawing participation from over 100 CEOs, 15 heads of state, and representatives from more than 100 countries. The summit, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is expected to be one of the largest congregations of global policymakers, industry leaders, and AI experts in recent history, underscoring India’s growing role in shaping the global artificial intelligence agenda.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) confirmed the scale and scope of the event during a press briefing on Monday. Political leaders expected at the summit include French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and UK Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy. While invitations have been extended to Chinese officials, their participation is yet to be confirmed. US President Donald Trump will not attend due to logistical and scheduling constraints, officials said.

Prime Minister Modi will formally inaugurate the summit on February 19, followed by a CEOs roundtable that will convene leading executives to discuss key global AI priorities and collaborative strategies. Ahead of the inauguration, a gala dinner hosted by the Prime Minister on February 18 will welcome heads of state and global leaders attending the summit.

The summit is expected to feature participation from prominent industry figures, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani, Cisco President Jeetu Patel, and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. Officials noted that discussions with top executives from Meta and Microsoft are ongoing. More than 500 confirmations from leading AI voices globally have already been received.

The co-host country for the event is yet to be finalized, though countries expressing interest include Switzerland, Estonia, Nigeria, the UAE, and the United States. Traditionally, the country slated to host the next global AI summit assumes the role of co-host.

This edition marks the fourth in the series of global AI summits, following events at Bletchley Park in the UK (2023), Seoul (2024), and Paris (2025), which India co-hosted. S. Krishnan, Secretary at MeitY, highlighted the growing scale of these summits: while 28 countries signed the declaration at Bletchley Park, participation grew to approximately 100 countries in Seoul, and India anticipates even broader global engagement in 2026.

A key feature of AI summits is the issuance of formal declarations — non-binding joint statements that outline shared priorities and cooperation areas for participating nations. Previous declarations include the Bletchley Declaration (28 countries), Seoul Declaration (10 countries), and Paris Declaration (58 countries, including India, though the US and UK abstained). Officials indicated that the India-led summit will focus on building consensus on inclusive AI policies, equitable access to AI resources, and promoting the benefits of AI across developing countries.

The summit aims to produce over 15 “specific and tangible deliverables,” including a leadership declaration, global guidelines on AI access, and seven major documents developed through open calls. These include a Global Tech Leaders’ Vision Document by NITI Aayog, an energy-focused study in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), and an International AI Safety Report by AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio, who has contributed similar reports in prior summits.

The event is expected to draw over 150,000 in-person participants over the week, with more than 300 high-impact side events designed to facilitate knowledge sharing, networking, and global collaboration. In preparation, around 300 pre-summit events have already been held over the past 140 days, spanning more than 25 countries and 100 cities. An additional 150 events are planned across 25 Indian states and union territories. International outreach has included cities such as New York, London, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Kuala Lumpur, while domestic engagement has occurred in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad.

The summit’s agenda is structured around three broad pillars — People, Planet, and Progress — with seven working groups focusing on key themes including safe and trusted AI, democratization of AI resources, human capital development, economic growth and social good, inclusion, resilience, and scientific innovation. The week-long event will feature an Innovation Festival (February 15-20) at Central Park in Connaught Place, an AI Impact Expo at Bharat Mandapam (February 16-20), and flagship global challenges including AI for All, AI by Her, and YUVAi (February 16-18). Keynotes, panel discussions, and roundtables are scheduled to run from February 16 to 20, while the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) will hold a meeting on February 20 on the sidelines of the summit.

Officials stressed that the summit is designed to foster global collaboration in AI while addressing key ethical, regulatory, and development challenges. The outcomes are expected to set a roadmap for inclusive AI development, aligning global technology priorities with sustainable growth and equitable distribution of AI’s benefits.

With a convergence of political leaders, industry executives, and global AI experts, the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi is poised to be a landmark event, reflecting India’s emergence as a major platform for shaping international AI discourse, policy, and innovation.