India AI Impact Summit: Global South’s Voice in AI Governance

New Delhi became the centre of the global artificial intelligence (AI) conversation from 16–20 February as it hosted the AI Impact Summit, drawing policymakers, industry leaders, investors, and researchers from across the world. Building on the momentum created by the inaugural summit at Bletchley Park in the United Kingdom, the Delhi edition positioned itself differently. While Bletchley emphasised safety and governance, New Delhi’s focus centred on inclusion, economic opportunity, and large-scale investment.

As a result, the summit functioned as much as an AI trade and innovation expo as it did a governance forum. Investment pledges, product launches, bilateral partnerships, and high-profile CEO appearances dominated the programme.

The event was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and featured many of the most influential figures in global technology, including Sundar Pichai (Alphabet), Sam Altman (OpenAI), Dario Amodei (Anthropic), Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind), and Mukesh Ambani (Reliance Industries).

Across five days, the summit saw more than USD 250 billion in infrastructure commitments, the unveiling of new foundational AI models, and discussions on digital payment architectures designed for an agent-driven economy. The summit concluded with an important diplomatic outcome: representatives from 88 countries and international organisations endorsed the New Delhi Declaration on AI, signalling growing global interest in a more inclusive approach to AI governance.

The United States delegation was led by Michael Kratsios, Director at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He emphasised America’s leadership in the field, stating that the United States remains “the birthplace of AI” and expressing willingness to share the American AI technology stack with partner nations pursuing AI sovereignty.

China was represented by Chen Jiachang, Vice Minister at China’s Ministry of Science and Technology, though the Chinese delegation reportedly maintained a relatively low public profile throughout the summit.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the importance of building “guardrails” for AI that preserve human agency, oversight, and accountability. He proposed the creation of a USD 3 billion global AI fund to ensure that developing countries can benefit from AI technologies. Guterres also highlighted the growing environmental footprint of AI infrastructure, urging that data centres and supply chains transition toward clean energy sources as demand for computational power increases.

Major Investment Commitments

One of the most significant outcomes of the summit was the scale of financial commitments announced for AI infrastructure.

India’s Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, revealed that more than USD 250 billion in combined public and private investments had been linked to announcements during the summit. These commitments reflected strong investor confidence in India’s ambition to become a major hub for AI infrastructure and innovation.

A central strategic priority underpinning these investments is the development of affordable domestic computing power and green energy infrastructure. By strengthening local compute capacity, India aims to host large AI workloads domestically, reduce reliance on foreign infrastructure, and support the development of indigenous AI models and services.

Strategic Industry Partnerships

The summit also catalysed several major partnerships between global technology firms and Indian companies.

Infosys and Anthropic announced a strategic collaboration to integrate Anthropic’s Claude models into Infosys’ Topaz AI suite. The partnership includes the establishment of an Anthropic Centre of Excellence focused on regulated sectors such as telecommunications, financial services, and manufacturing. The initiative aims to support enterprise-grade AI applications, particularly those involving agentic systems that require compliance, security, and industry-specific expertise.

At the same time, Tata Group, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and OpenAI unveiled a multi-layered partnership to develop AI-driven solutions across industries. The collaboration includes the internal deployment of OpenAI’s ChatGPT platform within Tata companies, joint go-to-market initiatives, development of agentic AI solutions, and the use of TCS’s data centres to support large-scale deployments.

Another significant announcement came from AMD and Tata Consultancy Services, which revealed plans to co-develop Helios, a rack-scale AI infrastructure architecture powered by AMD’s MI455X GPUs and EPYC processors. The blueprint is intended to accelerate large-scale AI deployments across Indian data centre campuses and support the country’s expanding AI ecosystem.

Policy Direction and the New Delhi Declaration

The summit concluded with the endorsement of the New Delhi Declaration, signed by representatives from 88 countries and international organisations.

The declaration emphasises three core themes – inclusive AI development, democratised access to foundational AI resources, international cooperation on trustworthy AI frameworks.

India used the summit to position itself as a leading voice for the Global South in AI governance. Rather than proposing a comprehensive standalone AI law, Indian policymakers advocated a principles-based, risk-calibrated regulatory approach, prioritising innovation while addressing emerging risks.

The geopolitical significance of the summit was notable. It took place during a period of heightened global tensions and marked the first major AI summit hosted by a Global South country. This context is particularly important given that roughly 70% of the global AI ecosystem is currently dominated by the United States and China.

At the same time, the event highlighted ongoing debates about AI governance models. The United States continues to emphasise innovation-driven growth, while Europe has prioritised regulatory frameworks such as the AI Act. India’s approach seeks to strike a middle path that encourages technological development while promoting responsible deployment.

Government-backed policy tools also played a prominent role in the summit discussions. These include GPU subsidies, public funding mechanisms for AI infrastructure, and a state-backed venture capital facility aimed at supporting domestic AI startups and model development. Such measures were frequently cited by industry participants as key drivers behind the private-sector commitments announced during the summit.

In addition, several frontier AI companies and Indian technology firms made voluntary commitments to share anonymised insights on AI adoption, strengthen multilingual and contextual model evaluation, and support evidence-based policymaking on employment and skills development.

Pax Silica and AI Supply Chain Security

Another strategic development emerging from the summit was India’s decision to formally join the Pax Silica initiative, an international effort aimed at strengthening resilient supply chains for critical minerals and AI-related technologies.

Participation in Pax Silica signals India’s intent to reduce concentrated dependencies in global supply chains and secure access to essential inputs required for semiconductor manufacturing, advanced computing infrastructure, and AI systems.

This move aligns closely with India’s broader ambition to build sovereign AI capabilities, ensuring that critical components of the AI ecosystem—from hardware to minerals—remain resilient, diversified, and strategically secure.

Conclusion

The New Delhi AI Impact Summit demonstrated how the global AI conversation is evolving beyond traditional technology hubs.

While earlier summits focused primarily on safety and governance, the Delhi edition emphasised investment, infrastructure, and inclusion, reflecting the priorities of emerging digital economies. By convening global industry leaders, policymakers, and international organisations, India positioned itself as both a major AI market and an influential voice in shaping the future rules of the technology.

For many observers, the summit highlighted a broader shift: the future of AI governance will not be determined solely by established technology powers. Instead, countries across the Global South are increasingly seeking to shape the agenda, ensuring that AI development reflects diverse economic priorities, development needs, and global cooperation frameworks.