AI Impact Summit Raises India’s Profile in Global AI Landscape amid Geopolitical Competition

Key takeaways

• The first large-scale AI convening in the Global South, the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi drew broad international participation and elevated India’s profile in the global AI landscape, reinforcing its ambition to shape the emerging AI transformation as a trusted partner of the U.S. and other like-minded countries. 

• The limited Chinese presence at the summit, contrasted with more visible U.S. and allied delegations, underscored the intensifying geopolitical competition in AI, as deployments across the Global South accelerate in 2026. 

• The adoption of the New Delhi Declaration by 89 signatories, including the U.S. and China, signals broad alignment on democratizing AI for economic and social development. However, the omission of “inclusivity,” the renaming of the proposed “AI Safety Commons,” and selective EU support for certain provisions reflect unresolved divergences over the scope and direction of global AI governance. 

• AI adoption and diffusion emerged as the summit’s core themes. Leaders emphasized the widening gap between frontier capability and real-world deployment, identifying measurable corporate and consumer adoption, particularly in the developing world, as a key benchmark of AI’s long-term impact. 

• Governance discussions expanded beyond safety to encompass economic impact, labor markets, linguistic diversity, and equitable access. Voluntary commitments by frontier labs, alongside India’s deepfake and child safety measures, point to a policy approach that combines light-touch coordination with selective but strict regulation. 

• Implementation of government and industry commitments will determine the summit’s overall impact ahead of the 2027 convening in Switzerland. With India having secured major commitments from domestic conglomerates and global technology firms, future hosts and policymakers are likely to emphasize tangible local impact, sustained follow-through, and demonstrable economic returns.