New Delhi/United Nations: Antonio Guterres emphasised at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 that the future of artificial intelligence should not be dominated by a few countries or billionaires. He highlighted the summit’s “special meaning” in promoting a more inclusive and globally shared approach to AI development.
“AI must belong to everyone. We must replace hype and fear with shared evidence – and close knowledge gaps”, he said during the inauguration of the India AI Impact Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.
“Meeting in India has special meaning”, he said. “It brings this conversation closer to the realities shaping much of the world because the future of AI cannot be decided by a handful of countries – or left to the whims of a few billionaires”.
Speaking before world leaders, tech titans, and participants from over 100 countries, he thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and France’s President Emmanuel Macron for convening the summit.
The discussions at the New Delhi summit will lead to the UN’s Global Dialogue on AI Governance in Geneva to be held in July, he said.
The meeting was convened by the General Assembly.
The dialogue “will give every country a voice” in discussions on the “guardrails that preserve human agency, human oversight – and human accountability”, he said.
That meeting will aim “to advance on common safety measures – the foundation for interoperability, that builds trust across borders – for regulators and businesses – and turns compatibility into opportunity”.
Guterres mentioned another initiative of the General Assembly, the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI with 40 experts from across the world.
“I urge member states, industry and civil society to contribute to the Panel’s work”, he said.
Balaraman Ravindran from IIT Madras is one of the experts on the panel.
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Caption: United Nations Secretary-General speaks at the inauguration of the India AI Impact Summit at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on Thursday, February 19, 2026. (Photo: IANS)
–IANS
