Officials look to make A.I. summit bigger than G20
The Summit will be held from 19 to 20 February, 2026, following similar high-profile meetings in Paris (2025), Seoul (2024) and Bletchley Park (2023).
'This will be a grand event, built around the model of G20. All global CEOs, along with heads of state have been invited,' said a government official at the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY), which is the ministry leading the preparations of the Summit.
'Lots of moving parts right now. The government is still working around the programme schedule, smaller pre-events, and slowly sending out invitations.'
Based on the central theme of 'People, Planet, and Progress,' the Summit's invitation, sent to a select few last month, read, 'The event will bring together world leaders, policymakers, innovators, and experts to discuss AI's role in driving equitable development, improving public services, and tackling global challenges while prioritizing ethics, safety, and inclusivity.'
People familiar with the planning told HT that the Prime Minister's Office is closely involved, with clear instructions to make it a landmark global event bigger than the G20. At the G7 Summit held in Kananaskis, Canada in June 2025, PM Narendra Modi invited all G7 leaders to India's AI Summit.
Ahead of the summit, MeitY has issued a call for proposals inviting government agencies, academia, intergovernmental organisations, private firms and non-profits from all over the world to host pre-Summit events between August 11, 2025 and 31 January 2026.
These pre-events can be in the form of workshops, panels, hackathons, conferences, etc, and must be held in-person or hybrid, but not fully virtual. 'By hosting Pre-Summit Events, organisations can play an active role in shaping the Summit's deliberations and outcomes. Selected events will receive official co-branding and visibility as part of the Summit's global programme,' said MeitY.
The pre-events must align with the seven smaller summit themes, namely human capital, inclusion, safe and trusted AI, resilience, science, democratising AI resources, and social good. Selected events will receive official co-branding.
In the run up to the preparations, MeitY also held five virtual stakeholder consultations from June 6 to 8, chaired by ministry's additional secretary Abhishek Singh. These consultations included representatives from international organisations, industry, startups, academia, and civil society. The ministry also opened a public consultation forum from June 6 to 30, inviting citizens to share their suggestions on shaping the Summit's agenda.
The previous AI Summit was held in Paris in February 2025, where 58 countries, including India, endorsed a joint statement on 'Inclusive and Sustainable Artificial Intelligence for People and the Planet.' The United States and the United Kingdom did not sign the declaration, which emphasised making AI more accessible while ensuring trust and safety in its deployment.
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