Mint Primer | Why is there the hype around AI summit in India?

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s big-ticket push for global prominence in artificial intelligence begins on 16 February. The AI Impact Summit has driven hotel prices higher across New Delhi, and attendance rates for global heads of state match those seen when India hosted the G20 summit in 2023.

Why is there such hype around a technology event, and what does the summit seek to achieve? Mint explains. The India AI Impact Summit, organized by the ministry of electronics and IT (Meity), primarily seeks to establish the country’s intent in a technology that has been billed as the biggest foundational shift since the industrial revolution. With Big Tech of the US pursuing foundational technologies, and China making a mark with democratizing the cost of AI, the summit will seek to highlight India’s market size, technology concepts from researchers, and build consensus on a doctrine.

Participating nations may become signatories to the use of AI in public services, defence applications, cyber security and digital trade—key areas that have come up in geopolitical discussions over the past three years. Also on show will be AI models or foundational algorithms that startups backed by the state-funded AI Mission have built over the past two years. This is the fourth such summit.

The first was hosted by the UK in November 2023, when India became a signatory to the Bletchley Park declaration. The document focused on AI safety, deepfakes and misinformation, robotics and factory automation. The second summit in South Korea took the previous declaration forward with the Seoul statement–India was among the 27 countries and the European Union that signed this safety declaration.