India to Host Global AI Research Symposium in February 2026

India will host the Research Symposium on AI and Its Impact on 18 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, as a flagship prelude to the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 (scheduled for 19–20 February).

• Global Participation: Researchers and practitioners from India, the Global South, and beyond will convene to present frontier work on AI’s societal and economic impact.
• Plenary Sessions: High-level dialogues featuring eminent Indian and international researchers.
• International Research Showcase: Short talks by globally recognized AI scholars.
• Global South Showcase: Poster presentations spotlighting innovative research from developing regions, especially by students and collaborative groups.
• Submission Call: Researchers whose papers appeared at top AI conferences in 2024 or 2025 are invited to submit poster proposals by 31 October 2025. Final posters are due 5 January 2026. Details: impact.indiaai.gov.in/research-symposium

Strategic Vision

The symposium aims to bridge research, policy, and practice—advancing India’s vision of AI for All, AI for Good, and AI for the World. It will help shape a collaborative roadmap for responsible, inclusive, and impactful AI development.

What is Global AI Research Symposium

The Global AI Research Symposium, officially titled the Research Symposium on AI and Its Impact, is a high-profile, interdisciplinary event hosted by the Government of India on 18 February 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi. It serves as the flagship research prelude to the India-AI Impact Summit 2026 (19–20 February).

Purpose

To convene leading researchers, especially from India and the Global South, to:

• Present frontier work on AI’s societal and economic impact
• Exchange methods, evidence, and ideas
• Forge collaborations between research, policy, and practic

India Should Manufacture Its Own AI – NVIDIA CEO, Huang

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang emphasized the importance of India manufacturing its own AI during the NVIDIA AI Summit in Mumbai on October 24, 2024. He stated, "It makes complete sense that India should manufacture its own AI".

Huang highlighted India's potential to become a global leader in AI, leveraging its vast pool of technical talent and immense data resources. He also mentioned that India could export AI in the future, similar to how it has exported software.

This vision aligns with NVIDIA's collaborations with Indian companies like Reliance Industries and Tech Mahindra to develop advanced AI infrastructure and solutions.

To capitalize on this country’s talent and India’s immense data resources, the country’s leading cloud infrastructure providers are rapidly accelerating their data center capacity. NVIDIA is playing a key role, with NVIDIA GPU deployments expected to grow nearly 10x by year’s end, creating the backbone for an AI-driven economy.

Together with NVIDIA, these companies are at the cutting edge of a shift Huang compared to the seismic change in computing introduced by IBM’s System 360 in 1964, calling it the most profound platform shift since then.

"This industry, the computing industry, is going to become the intelligence industry,” Huang said, pointing to India’s unique strengths to lead this industry, thanks to its enormous amounts of data and large population.

Huang identified three areas where AI will transform industries: sovereign AI, where nations use their own data to drive innovation; agentic AI, which automates knowledge-based work; and physical AI, which applies AI to industrial tasks through robotics and autonomous systems. India, Huang noted, is uniquely positioned to lead in all three areas.

India’s startups are already harnessing NVIDIA technology to drive innovation across industries and are positioning themselves as global players, bringing the country’s AI solutions to the world.

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang speaking with Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani at NVIDIA’s AI Summit in Mumbai.

During the NVIDIA AI Summit in Mumbai, the CEO of NVIDIA, also praised Mukesh Ambani and Reliance Industries for their significant contributions to India's tech space. Huang highlighted the partnership between NVIDIA and Reliance to build AI infrastructure in India, emphasizing the country's large population of users as a key advantage.

Reliance and Nvidia partnering to build AI infrastructure in India #AI #AISummit #Reliance #Nvidia pic.twitter.com/0OM4NCVwep

— Reliance Industries Limited (@RIL_Updates) October 24, 2024

Huang also shared a light-hearted moment with Ambani, joking about the size of their respective homes and acknowledging Nita Ambani's role in building the Jio World Centre. He noted that India is central to NVIDIA's global AI strategy and expressed confidence in India's potential to become a leader in AI.

Notably, Reliance, in partnership with NVIDIA, is building AI factories to automate industrial tasks and transform processes in sectors like energy and manufacturing.

Nvidia to Host Flagship AI Summit in India in October

Nvidia is set to host its flagship AI Summit in India from October 23-25, 2024 at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai. This event will feature a range of sessions and live demos on generative AI, industrial digitalization, robotics, large language models, and more.

Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, will also be present, participating in a fireside chat on October 24. This summit aims to position India as a significant player in the global AI landscape.

The Nvidia AI Summit in India will feature several exciting highlights:

1. Keynote Speeches: Nvidia's CEO, Jensen Huang, will deliver a keynote address and participate in a fireside chat.

2. Generative AI Sessions: In-depth sessions on the latest adva. ncements in generative AI.

3. Industrial Digitalization: Discussions on how AI is transforming various industries.

4. Robotics and Automation: Live demos showcasing cutting-edge robotics and automation technologies.

5. Large Language Models: Insights into the development and application of large language models.

6. Networking Opportunities: A chance to connect with industry leaders, AI experts, and innovators.

This summit aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the current AI landscape and its future directions.

In September 2023, Huang met Indian PM Narendra Modi during a five-day tour to discuss the country’s potential role as a site for chipmaking, AI talent resource and market for Nvidia products.