The international summit on artificial intelligence will bring together around twenty heads of state and government, as well as the big bosses of the sector, in New Delhi this week. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his peers must develop a common roadmap for global AI governance and collaboration.
Published on: 02/16/2026 - 06:21 Modified on: 02/16/2026 - 08:14
From child protection to the impact on the environment, the international summit on artificial intelligence which begins on Monday February 16 in New Delhi, displays vast ambitions, but could conclude without concrete commitments.
Around twenty heads of state and government (France, Brazil, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Arab Emirates, etc.) are expected this week around Prime Minister Narendra Modi for this fourth global meeting dedicated to a technology which, across the planet, is already disrupting societies.
Previous editions took place in Paris, Seoul and Bletchley Park (United Kingdom).
Most of the big bosses in the sector will also be there: from Sam Altman of OpenAI to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, including Jensen Huang, boss of Nvidia, the American microprocessor giant.
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After the slew of round tables and debates which begin on Monday, Narendra Modi and his peers must develop a common roadmap for global governance and collaboration on AI starting on Thursday. French President Emmanuel Macron, who will begin a three-day state visit to India on February 17, will be in New Delhi to kick off this AI summit.
Boosted by the solid stock market performance of tech stocks, the current revolution is fueling all concerns about its impact on the environment, employment, artistic creation, education and information.
According to the organizers of the summit, Narendra Modi wants to pass a resolution which “strengthens international partnerships” and “affirms India’s prominent place in the decade of AI to come”.
Child protection emergency
It remains to be seen whether truly restrictive measures will be taken to regulate its use and impose them on the all-powerful giants of the sector, asks Amba Kak, co-director of the AI Now institute.
To date, the commitments made "have been limited to setting 'quasi-self-regulatory' frameworks", notes this former advisor for AI to the US Federal Trade Commission. “The AI industry drives not only the technology itself, but also the way we regulate it (...) or not at all,” she notes.
At the end of the “Summit for Action on AI” held in Paris last year, dozens of countries signed a declaration for “open”, “inclusive” and “ethical” AI.
The United States and the United Kingdom had refused to do so, with U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance warning of “overregulation” that could “kill a booming industry.”
For the American specialist as for other experts, the themes chosen for the discussions in New Delhi – “people, progress and the planet” – are too vague to hope for concrete measures.
However, the emergencies are there, as in matters of child protection. As recalled by the global outcry caused by the Grok affair, named after the tool developed by X, Elon Musk's platform, which sparked the dissemination of images of naked women and minors by AI.
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“The importance of child protection and digital risks is growing every moment,” judges Kelly Forbes, director of the AI Asia Pacific Institute, who believes “there is real room to change things.”
A serious competitor, but behind Washington and Beijing
With its billion Internet users, India prides itself on being the first developing country to organize the summit.
“It will shape a common vision of AI that truly benefits the majority and not just a minority,” aims the Indian Ministry of Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw.
Last year, India took third place – ahead of South Korea and Japan – in the annual global ranking of AI competitiveness established by the American University of Stanford (California).
In 2025, the AI giants have showered tens of billions of dollars in investment promises on the most populous country on the planet, whose abundant, trained and cheap workforce has already made it a champion of IT subcontracting.
But experts say that, despite its gigantic infrastructure projects and innovation ambitions, India still has a long way to go before rivaling the United States and China.
Read alsoIn China, DeepSeek AI has become as essential as it is political
Neither Donald Trump nor Xi Jinping have planned to travel to New Delhi, where they will be represented.
With AFP
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