New Delhi is positioning itself as a key AI powerhouse, drawing pledges of hundreds of billions from global tech leaders at the Indian AI Impact Summit, where policymakers and executives gathered to advance the nation’s tech goals.
Hyperscalers such as Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet plan up to $700 billion in AI capital spending this year amid worldwide competition. Reliance committed $110 billion to data centres and infrastructure, while Adani unveiled a $100 billion AI data centre expansion over the next decade, expected to spur $250 billion in economic gains.
U.S. firms stepped up at the summit. Microsoft targets $50 billion for AI in the Global South by 2030, building on its $17.5 billion regional investments including new data centres by mid-2026. OpenAI and AMD partnered with Tata Group on AI infrastructure, and Blackstone joined Neysa’s $600 million funding round.
Controversy shadowed the event. Bill Gates withdrew over backlash from his past Epstein ties. An Indian university was criticised for claiming a Chinese robot dog as a local invention.
The attendee list reflected market optimism, including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Alphabet’s Sundar Pichai, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis. Nvidia expanded venture ties in India to back startups.
India approved $18 billion for semiconductors to strengthen supply chains, alongside U.S. trade talks for lower tariffs and the Pax Silica pact to secure silicon supplies. Forecasts show over $200 billion in AI investments soon, with private funding at $11.1 billion by 2024 and IT spend topping $176 billion in 2026.
Private capital gaps remain. Anirudh Suri of India Internet Fund told CNBC, “What we’ve not maybe seen as much of right now is venture capital and private equity money to come in to invest in Indian entrepreneurs in the AI space.”
Microsoft’s Brad Smith said, “If you look at the engineering talent, you quickly conclude India too can be a place where models are developed.” He predicted a “variety of different DeepSeek moments” ahead.
Udith Sikand of Gavekal cautioned to CNBC, “India is making splashy attempts to kickstart its belated AI push, but it is doing so primarily by offering headline-grabbing sops without addressing many of the underlying difficulties of actually doing business in India.”
India trails the U.S. and China but eyes niche breakthroughs.