Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with prominent AI innovators in New Delhi to spur India’s burgeoning AI ecosystem. A significant event to bring together some of the world’s leading AI technology advocates (SUNIA 2024), the meeting is part of preparations for India AI Impact Summit 2026, with a focus on making India a world leader in ethical and inclusive AI development.
The roundtable was hosted at the Prime Minister’s residence and comprised 12 Indian AI startups that had gone on to qualify for the “AI for ALL: Global Impact Challenge.” They are some of the most promising startups in the country building technologies around multilingual LLMs, speech‑to‑text tools, generative AI for e‑commerce, healthcare diagnostics and engineering simulations. Their presence highlights the caliber and diversity of India’s AI talent pool.
I came back to India just because of PM Modi and his vision - An AI engineer
— Mr Sinha (@MrSinha_) January 9, 2026
This is how leading innovators from AI startups reacted after their meeting with PM Modi.... pic.twitter.com/eFRfnONDe5
Prime Minister Modi stressed that these entrepreneurs are not just business leaders; they are also co‑architects of India’s future. He pleaded with them to build AI models that are “Made in India, Made for the World,” arguing for local languages, cultural norms and ethical guidelines to be instilled in such technological innovation. His observation heralded a bright vision: India should not merely adopt AI; India needs to forge its global path in a manner consistent with its identity as a country.
During the dialog, Modi projected what he saw for India in the global advancement of AI. India’s AI model should reflect the diverse and socially responsible, he emphasized. This involves elevating local languages with AI tools, promoting fairness, and ethics in AI systems, and using AI to address real-world issues such as health care, education and agriculture. India can deliver such innovative solutions at scale, he also underscored, but for those solutions (to work for society) to truly work in reality, they have to be popularized and used to a large extent.
The entrepreneurs who attended the meeting were enthusiastic about the government’s assistance. “I returned to India exactly because of PM Modi and his idea,” says one AI engineer, expressing the optimism experienced by innovators who perceive India as a growing AI hub. Numerous founders said that India is emerging as the new epicenter for AI innovation, bolstered by a colossal talent pool, growing infrastructure and enabling incentives. And they acknowledged that hurdles such as limited access to high‑quality data, global competition, and a greater collaboration between academia, industry, and government would be necessary.
It became increasingly common during the meeting for people to speak about their ethical, indigenous AI. Modi cautioned developers to not be biased and incorporate everyone into their tools; AI needs to honor those communities. He advised startups to design homegrown models that would be representative of Indian culture and values, instead of simply reproducing Western systems. His claim being the opposite of the common wisdom of a lot of Chinese states would enable India to become a leader in the Global AI race with solutions that are in alignment with the needs of developing countries, he argued.
The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is likely to host a larger stage where these ideas will be showcased. The summit will convene global experts, investors, and policymakers to focus on scaling AI to benefit the people, making international partnerships, and promoting youth and startups to drive innovation. Modi’s discussion with AI startups establishes the stage for this event by saying India is serious about being a leader in responsible AI.
This was not only an occasion, but quite a statement of India’s preparedness to take lead at the AI innovation stage. Given the support of the government, an ecosystem of start-ups and clear-cut ethics, India is poised to pave the way for the AI that will contribute to the development of sustainable technological products which both apply to us all both from the local society and outwards. This partnership between policymakers and entrepreneurs also represents an essential stride in creating an AI architecture that is inclusive, culturally connected and globally consequential.
AI Impact Summit is taking its time: a message from India about the future of AI is as clear as it is loud: The world of AI is for social good as it is for economic growth. As a country of innovation and responsibility India can set an example for the world on how technology can be leveraged to empower people, bridge divides and shape a more just future through technology.
