New Delhi will host 22 Heads of State and Government and 45 ministers next week for the India–AI Impact Summit 2026, marking one of the largest global political gatherings focused exclusively on Artificial Intelligence.
The summit from February 16 to 20 will bring together political leaders, multilateral institutions, technology pioneers and more than 100 global CEOs. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the Leaders’ Plenary on February 19 and will hold a CEO’s roundtable the same day.
Global Participation
Among the confirmed attendees are French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Leaders from Bhutan, Croatia, Kazakhstan, Mauritius, the Netherlands, Slovakia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Finland, Serbia and Estonia are also expected.
The vice presidents of Bolivia and Guyana, the UN secretary-general and the managing director of the International Monetary Fund will also be present. Chinese officials have been invited, though their participation remains unconfirmed.
At the weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated: “Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will be on a state visit to India from 18–22 February 2026. He will participate in the 2nd AI Summit (19–20 February). 21 February is the main day for official bilateral talks.”
Prime Minister Modi and President Lula “would be reviewing the entire gamut of bilateral relations” and exchange views on “regional and global issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in multilateral fora, reformed multilateralism, global governance and issues concerning the Global South.”
President Macron will also attend the summit during his official visit to India from February 17 to 19.
Industry Leaders
On the industry side, more than 100 global CEOs have confirmed participation. They include 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.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is “most likely” to attend, while discussions are ongoing with executives from Meta and Microsoft. Officials said over 500 confirmations have been received from leading AI voices globally.
More than 150,000 in-person attendees are expected during the summit week, which will also feature over 300 high-impact side events.
Agenda
The summit is anchored around three guiding pillars: People, Planet and Progress, and structured through seven thematic working groups: Human Capital; Inclusion for Social Empowerment; Safe and Trusted AI; Resilience, Innovation and Efficiency; Science; Democratizing AI Resources; and AI for Economic Growth and Social Good.
The five-day programme will begin with the AI Impact Expo (February 16–20), alongside keynotes, panel discussions and roundtables across multiple venues in New Delhi.
On February 17, knowledge compendiums on AI in health, energy, education, agriculture, gender empowerment and accessibility will be released. A Research Symposium is scheduled for February 18.
The Leaders’ Plenary and CEO Roundtable will take place on February 19, followed by the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Council Meeting on February 20.
Expected Outcomes
The summit is expected to deliver more than 15 “specific and tangible” outcomes, including a possible leadership declaration.
Other anticipated outputs include a Global Tech Leaders’ Vision Document by NITI Aayog, an energy-focused study developed with the International Energy Agency, and an International AI Safety Report prepared by AI pioneer Yoshua Bengio.
The India–AI Impact Summit 2026 will be the fourth in the series of global AI summits, following Bletchley Park (2023), Seoul (2024) and Paris (2025), which India co-hosted. It will be the first global AI summit to be hosted in the Global South. The summit aligns with the IndiaAI Mission and the broader Digital India initiative.
