The India AI Impact Summit, one of the world’s largest AI gatherings, kicked off today in New Delhi, in a major convergence point for the India-MENA corridor.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed India’s pride in welcoming global leaders to the summit. “The AI Impact Summit will enrich the global discourse on diverse aspects of AI, such as innovation, collaboration, and responsible use, among others,” Modi said in a post on X.

Why it matters: India seeks to position itself as a serious contender in the global race to build frontier AI models. By opening its nuclear energy sector to power AI data centers along with a massive renewables buildout, India is offering Gulf investors a green, low-cost alternative for hosting regional data. With USD 70 bn in AI commitments already secured from the likes of Google, Microsoft, and Amazon, India is targeting USD 150 bn in AI infrastructure investment by late 2026.

The summit will draw heads of state, global executives, investors, and policymakers. CEOs of tech giants — including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Google’s Sundar Pichai, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, and Meta’s Alexandr Wang — are attending the conference.

A high-level delegation from the UAE, led by Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will be in attendance, according to Abu Dhabi Media Office. The focus is on cross-border supercomputing clusters and jointly-developed data centers that can power AI solutions across energy, finance, and smart infrastructure, while formalizing the AI infrastructure MoUs signed during President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed’s recent visit to India.

From Saudi Arabia, President of the Saudi Data and Artificial Intelligence Authority Abdullah Alghamdiwill present the Kingdom’s advanced technological initiatives in humanitarian and economic AI development.

IN CONTEXT- In the latest Budget, India introduced a tax holiday until 2047 for foreign cloud and AI infrastructure providers to undercut the operational costs of rival tech hubs.

What’s on the agenda: The summit will debut 12 foundation models developed in India. Discussions will cover global frameworks for AI governance, future strategic priorities for the technology, and mechanisms to strengthen public-private cooperation in support of the sustainable development goals.

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