SRINAGAR: The India AI Impact Summit 2026 commenced at Bharat Mandapam on Monday, marking the first time that a global convening of this scale on artificial intelligence is being organised in the Global South. The five-day summit, from February 16 to 20, is bringing together Heads of State and Government, ministers, global technology leaders, researchers, multilateral institutions, and industry stakeholders to deliberate on the role of AI in advancing inclusive growth, strengthening public systems, and enabling sustainable development.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to deliver the inaugural address on February 19, outlining India’s vision for inclusive and responsible artificial intelligence and setting the tone for global cooperation.
More than 100 government representatives, including over 20 Heads of State and Government and 60 Ministers and Vice Ministers, are participating in the summit alongside more than 500 global AI leaders comprising CEOs, founders, academicians, researchers, CTOs and philanthropic organisations.
A major highlight of the summit is the culmination of three flagship Global Impact Challenges — AI for ALL, AI by HER and YUVAi — designed to accelerate scalable and development-oriented AI solutions aligned with national priorities and global development goals. The challenges received over 4,650 applications from more than 60 countries. Following a multi-stage evaluation led by domain experts and policymakers, the top 70 teams have been selected as finalists and are presenting their solutions during the Grand Finale and Awards Felicitation Ceremony at Bharat Mandapam and Sushma Swaraj Bhawan.
The Research Symposium on AI and Its Impact, being organised in partnership with Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad on February 18, serves as the principal academic platform of the summit. The symposium has received around 250 research submissions from Africa, Asia and Latin America. It is being attended by Estonian President Alar Karis, Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, and Minister of State for Electronics and IT Jitin Prasada. Discussions are focused on AI-driven scientific discovery, safety and governance frameworks, equitable access to compute infrastructure and research collaboration across the Global South.
The summit is anchored in the framework of People, Planet and Progress, supported by seven thematic working groups covering economic growth and social good, democratisation of AI resources, inclusion, safe and trusted AI, human capital, science, and resilience and innovation. These groups are expected to present outcome-oriented recommendations linking policy dialogue with implementation pathways.
Alongside the policy and research deliberations, the India AI Impact Expo 2026 is showcasing AI-powered innovations from across sectors. At the WAVES Creators Corner, powered by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, 51 startups from the AVGC-XR and Media Tech sector are presenting AI-driven solutions ranging from immersive storytelling and gaming to virtual production and multilingual content technologies. The platform, supported by WaveX, features demonstrations such as a Zero-Touch Autonomous Newsroom generating multilingual bulletins, real-time lip-synced dubbing across Indian languages, AI-powered podcast studios, voice cloning stations and interactive storytelling installations.
Startups emerging as winners under the Bhashasetu and Kalaasetu challenges are also showcasing AI tools aimed at enhancing linguistic accessibility and preserving cultural heritage. Five Indian gaming and immersive technology startups — Yesgnome, Metasports (Hitwicket), Koyozo, Youth Buzz (Ourcadium) and Evivve — are presenting AI-powered gaming, generative commentary engines, adaptive AI gameplay and enterprise cognitive AI readiness tools, underscoring India’s growing capabilities at the intersection of AI, gaming and immersive media.
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has set up a dedicated pavilion at the summit to highlight India’s AI ecosystem, hosting panels, masterclasses and technology showcases on AI-driven production workflows, multilingual voice technologies, gaming innovation and responsible AI frameworks. In collaboration with Adobe, the pavilion is presenting “Kathāvatār,” a showcase of AI-generated short films inspired by Indian folklore, along with sessions on AI-enabled filmmaking and content creation workflows.
An AI Immersive Theatre featuring 270-degree projection and AI-powered storytelling has also been introduced as part of the expo, led by the National Film Development Corporation and Waves Bazaar under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, showcasing curated AI films and hackathon finalists.
Officials said the summit positions India as a convenor and partner in global AI cooperation, seeking to align technological advancement with inclusive growth and sustainable development. By linking policy dialogue with implementation and innovation with public purpose, the India AI Impact Summit 2026 is being projected as a platform to transition from dialogue to delivery, reinforcing India’s role in shaping responsible and development-focused AI pathways for the Global South.
