World Leaders Converge at India’s AI Impact Summit as Global Governance Debate Intensifies

When the United Nations Secretary-General took the stage in New Delhi this week, his message was unambiguous: the future of artificial intelligence cannot be left to the whims of a few billionaires. Antonio Guterres’s warning came at the most high-profile day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, a gathering that has drawn world leaders, tech executives, and policymakers to grapple with the fast-advancing technology that promises both transformation and disruption.

“AI must belong to everyone. The future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries — or left to the whims of a few billionaires.” — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres

A $3 Billion Bet on Democratic AI

Guterres used the summit platform to call for a $3 billion global fund to ensure open access to AI technology for all nations, not just the wealthy few. The proposal underscores a growing tension at the heart of the AI revolution: as the technology becomes more powerful, who gets to control it, profit from it, and set the rules governing its use?

The India summit represents the fourth in a series of international AI meetings that began at Bletchley Park in the UK in 2023, followed by gatherings in France and South Korea. But this year’s edition carries special significance — it is the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, amplifying voices that have historically been sidelined in technology governance discussions.

French President Emmanuel Macron, also speaking at the summit, emphasized the need for international cooperation in shaping AI’s trajectory. “We are determined to continue to shape the rules of the game, and to do with our allies such as India,” Macron stated. “Europe is not blindly focused on regulation – Europe is a space for innovation and investment, but it is a safe space.”

India’s Moment on the Global Stage

For India, the summit represents more than just a diplomatic victory. Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled what he called the “MANAV Vision” for artificial intelligence — a human-centric framework for ethical, accountable, and inclusive AI governance. The acronym spells out India’s priorities: Moral and ethical systems, Accountable governance, National sovereignty, Accessible and inclusive technology, and Valid and legitimate frameworks.

“India is not just a part of the AI revolution, but is leading and shaping it,” Modi declared, highlighting recent launches of AI models by Indian companies. “The AI model which succeeds in India can be deployed all over the world.”

The economic stakes are substantial. Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani announced a staggering ₹10 lakh crore (approximately $115 billion) investment over seven years to revolutionize AI in India, drawing parallels to the company’s transformative impact on mobile data pricing. Tata Group also revealed plans to develop industry-specific AI chips, starting with the automotive sector.

“We are entering an era where humans and intelligence systems co-create, co-work and co-evolve.” — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The Awkward Alliance of AI Rivals

Beyond the policy pronouncements, the summit produced moments of human drama that captured the complex relationships within the AI industry. A photo opportunity featuring world leaders and tech executives went viral when OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei — former colleagues turned rivals — awkwardly refused to hold hands for a group photograph.

The moment was symbolic of broader tensions in the AI landscape. Altman later downplayed the incident, explaining that he was confused about what was happening when Prime Minister Modi grabbed his hand. But the underlying rivalry is real and significant.

Amodei, in his summit address, published a stark warning about AI’s trajectory. He noted that while AI struggled with writing code in 2023, it now writes the majority of internal code at Anthropic. He estimates that AI will soon be capable of handling almost all human cognitive tasks — a prediction that has fueled both excitement and anxiety about workforce displacement.

The Workforce Question Looms Large

The summit took place against a backdrop of mounting concern about AI’s impact on employment. International Monetary Fund Director Kristalina Georgieva has cited studies indicating that AI will affect 60% of jobs in developed countries and 40% globally. She described the situation as a “tsunami hitting the labour market.”

According to consulting firm Challenger, Grey & Christmas, nearly 55,000 job cuts in the US in 2025 were linked to AI implementation. Amazon reduced its workforce by 15,000, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reported cutting thousands of customer service roles as AI proved capable of handling significant portions of the workload.

Yet some experts caution against overattributing layoffs to AI alone. Randstad CEO Sander van ‘t Noordende pointed out that broader economic uncertainties also play a significant role. A Yale Budget Lab report found that US occupational employment shares remained unchanged between 2022 and 2025, suggesting the transformation may be more gradual than headlines indicate.

What Comes Next

The India AI Impact Summit concludes with several key questions unresolved. Will the $3 billion global fund materialize? Can the Global South secure meaningful representation in AI governance? And perhaps most importantly, can the industry and policymakers find common ground on safety standards before the technology advances further?

Switzerland has already announced it will host the 2027 AI Summit in Geneva, ensuring the dialogue continues. For now, the New Delhi gathering has succeeded in one crucial respect: it has ensured that voices from beyond the traditional tech centers of Silicon Valley and Shenzhen are part of the conversation about AI’s future.

As the summit wraps up, the world is left with Modi’s framing of the choice ahead: “The world stands at a fork over AI, one path leading to scarce, expensive AI controlled by the few, while the other ensures affordable and accessible AI for all.” Which path the world chooses will shape the next decade of technological development.

This article was reported by the ArtificialDaily editorial team. For more information, visit The Hindu and Al Jazeera.