Avantika Banerjee

India’s AI Impact Summit, scheduled for February 16–20, 2026 in New Delhi, marks an important moment in the evolving global conversation on artificial intelligence governance. As the first major AI summit hosted by a Global South nation outside a Western economy, it reflects a broader shift in how AI governance is being shaped.

For much of the past decade, AI norms have largely emerged from three dominant models: market-led innovation in the United States, rights-based regulation in the European Union, and state-centric approaches in China. While each has contributed meaningfully to global progress, the concentration of AI infrastructure, data, and decision-making power has also widened the digital divide, leaving many regions as adopters rather than shapers of AI systems. India’s summit does not claim to resolve these structural imbalances. But it does signal a reframing. By centering inclusive growth, multilingual access, and public digital infrastructure, India is advancing a development-oriented approach to AI that resonates well beyond its borders, particularly across the Indo-Pacific and emerging economies.

From a U.S. and global governance perspective, this matters. Sustainable AI leadership will increasingly depend on whether global frameworks can incorporate diverse economic realities, cultural contexts, and development priorities, without fragmenting standards or undermining interoperability.

The questions India’s summit raises are timely and necessary: Who shapes AI norms? How can innovation remain open, competitive, and inclusive? What does meaningful participation look like for countries beyond the traditional centers of technological power?

While these questions will not be answered in a single forum, India’s 2026 summit ensures that they are now part of the global AI governance dialogue.