Morning arrives softly in New Delhi, carried on a pale haze that settles over wide roads and government buildings. Cars move in slow arcs, security barriers are lifted and replaced, and inside cooled halls, screens glow before the day has fully warmed. It is the kind of quiet preparation that precedes something global, when the city becomes a meeting point rather than a destination.
This week, India steps into that role as host of a major global artificial intelligence summit, drawing together policymakers, researchers, and technology leaders from across continents. Among the attendees are representatives from companies such as OpenAI and Google, alongside government officials and academics. The gathering reflects how discussions about algorithms, data, and governance now travel as readily as trade or diplomacy.
India’s position in the conversation has been years in the making. With a vast digital population, expanding startup ecosystem, and a government eager to frame rules for emerging technologies, the country has become both a laboratory and a marketplace for AI. Hosting the summit places it at the center of debates that stretch from innovation and investment to ethics and regulation.
Inside the conference rooms, the language is technical but the undercurrent is philosophical. How should artificial intelligence be governed across borders? Who benefits when systems grow more capable, and who is left behind? Speakers move between optimism and caution, describing tools that can accelerate development while acknowledging risks that do not respect national boundaries.
For global companies, India represents scale—millions of users, diverse languages, and real-world complexity. For Indian officials, the presence of foreign executives underscores a desire to shape global norms rather than simply adopt them. The summit becomes a shared space where ambition is tempered by the recognition that no single country or company can steer the technology alone.
Beyond the formal sessions, conversations spill into corridors and over tea. Delegates compare notes on policy frameworks, data protection, and the pace of change. Outside, the city continues uninterrupted: street vendors set up for lunch, buses idle in traffic, and office workers glance at their phones, already touched by the technologies under discussion.
As the summit unfolds, its significance lies less in announcements than in alignment. By convening voices from Silicon Valley to South Asia, India positions itself as a bridge in an increasingly fragmented technological landscape. When the halls empty and the lights dim, the questions raised here will travel onward, carried into boardrooms and ministries around the world, shaped in part by the conversations that began under New Delhi’s morning haze.
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Sources Reuters Associated Press BBC News The New York Times Financial Times