AI Impact Summit
New Delhi: After a week of packed halls, high-level diplomacy and billion-dollar pitches, several national delegations at the India AI Impact Summit will issue a joint statement on how the world should handle artificial intelligence Saturday, a day later than planned, as the govt works to widen global consensus on the document. The declaration, already backed by over 70 countries, comes amid companies committing to invest more than $250 billion in the country and reinforced India’s push to shape global AI agenda for the Global South. Union minister for electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday there was “huge consensus”, with discussions continuing. “The declaration and its contours will be shared transparently tomorrow,” he said, adding that India hoped the final signatory count would cross 80. Despite differences, summit has set stage for cooperation: Indian officials Countries had failed to reach a consensus at the last summit in Paris but there appears to be greater synergy on several issues, among govts and companies. Substantive disagreements also surfaced on global governance. While the UN announced formation of an independent scientific panel on AI, the US delegation warned against centralised global control of generative AI, underlining the difficulty of forging binding global rules. Despite differing views, Indian officials said the summit had laid the groundwork for collaboration rather than confrontation. “This is about real action, not just paper,” Vaishnaw said, pointing to bilateral discussions, industry commitments and plans for an expanded AI Mission 2.0. Ashwini Vaishnaw said the scale and diversity of participation underlined global confidence in India’s approach. “World has confidence in India’s role in the new AI age. That is very important for all of us,” he said. According to the minister, over five lakh visitors have attended the summit and the expo, with “practically every major AI player in the world” participating. A key highlight, Vaishnaw said, was the acceptance of PM Modi’s vision of “ManavAI” – AI of the humans, by the humans, for the humans – which places responsible and ethical use of AI at the centre. “For the first time, discussion on ethical and responsible AI has been brought to the forefront in such a meaningful way,” he said. Investment commitments also featured prominently. Vaishnaw said infrastructure-related pledges linked to AI, data centres and allied technologies had already crossed $250 billion, while around $20 billion in deep-tech venture investments had been completed. “Numbers are important, but what is more important is the trust the world has shown in India,” he said.
