India Invites China to Participate in AI Impact Summit

India has formally invited China to participate in the upcoming AI Impact Summit in February, a move that points to a gradual easing of ties even as both countries race to build domestic capabilities in artificial intelligence.

Confirming the invitation at a press briefing on Monday, Secretary in India’s Ministry of Information and Technology S. Krishnan said New Delhi has extended an official invite to Beijing to attend the summit, which India will host next year. 

China’s inclusion is significant, given recent geopolitical frictions, and mirrors its participation in previous editions of the AI Summit hosted by the UK, South Korea, and France.

India will host the India AI Impact Summit 2026 from February 15 to 20, marking the first time the forum is being held in the Global South. Launched in the UK in 2023, the summit is not a formal intergovernmental grouping, with participation decided by the host country. 

China’s presence at the inaugural UK summit had sparked political pushback, but it ultimately participated and remained part of subsequent editions.

Positioned as a forum to develop long-term recommendations on AI governance rather than immediate binding rules, the New Delhi summit is expected to draw participation from more than 100 countries, with invitations sent to around 140 nations.

Krishnan said registrations have already crossed 15,500 participants from 136 countries, with 76 from the Global South.

The event is expected to bring together senior political leaders and technology executives. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the AI Impact Expo, host a gala dinner for global tech leaders, and address a CEO roundtable. Heads of government from 15-20 countries are expected to attend.

Confirmed participants include Microsoft Co-founder Bill Gates, Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon, and FedEx CEO Raj Subramaniam. 

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is also expected to attend, according to senior officials.

The formal opening ceremony of the summit is scheduled for February 19, followed by a leaders’ plenary and CEO roundtable on the same day. A ministerial meeting of the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) will take place on February 20.

Alongside closed-door discussions, the summit will feature a public-facing program. An AI innovation festival will kick off on February 15 at Central Park, Connaught Place, showcasing creative and social applications of AI. 

Nearly 800 parallel AI-related events are expected across the country during summit week, with the government estimating total attendance of over 150,000 people, including visitors to the expo.

Several major reports are also set to be released. AI researcher Yoshua Bengio is preparing a scientific report for the summit, while the International Energy Agency and UN Women are working on separate reports focused on AI’s role in energy systems and gender empowerment.