Move over, EU - Takeaways from India’s AI Impact Summit 

As the AI Impact Summit wrapped up a few days ago, we would like to offer our take on this massive event and what we think it heralds for the global AI economy. 

First thing to note is the huge scale – of the event and of India’s emerging ambitions in the AI space. It is quite clear from the importance the Indian government has put on investing in AI as a long-term accelerator of economic growth and social development. Seems to us like India is “all in” on AI. The scale of investment that was declared during the Summit is truly eye-watering – we are talking about 250+ billion poured into the ecosystem in the coming years. For comparison, the EU Apply AI Strategy comes with a 1 billion EUR budget. Granted, this is only one of many sources for AI investment in Europe, and declarations are not hard cash, but nevertheless the level of ambition is a testament to how seriously India is planning its start in the AI race.

Secondly, the message and potential are most certainly seen by the AI giants – most of the corporate heavyweight CEOs were there in person (Pichai, Altman, Amodei) and European AI Champion, President Macron, also made an appearance, as well as a plethora of other officials and representatives. India is serious, and everyone wants in. Many took the opportunity to announce investments (Microsoft, Google) or the opening of offices or dev centres. India leads on AI metrics adoption outside of the US and has both a huge market and an enormous pool of young talent to tap. No one wants to be shut out, as India has a long history of market protectionism (which conversely may be its Achilles heel). 

Thirdly – despite the ostensibly “humanistic” (the MANAV vision) rhetoric, it is rather obvious that India is treating this as a key competitive advantage and springboard for economic expansion in the Global South and will not hamstring its efforts through overly restrictive regulation. India’s recently drafted AI Governance Guidelines take a distinctly pragmatic approach. Rather than preemptively locking down the technology, the guidelines explicitly champion “Innovation over Restraint,” acknowledging that while AI has risks, stifling its development would be a strategic error. Perhaps others are learning from EU mistakes in something we can call a “reverse Brussels effect”. 

Naturally, nothing is a given, declarations do not translate directly into reality, and India has long been the “sleeping giant” of the global economy, not able to take full advantage of its strengths, plagued by failed economic policies, protectionism, and administrative inefficiencies. Whether the most populous country in the world find its growth engine in AI remains to be seen, but judging from the Summit, it is quite plausible that Europe will lose its third place in the global race for AI domination. Policymakers should take heed.