Written By Deepti Ratnam
Edited By: Deepti Ratnam | Published By: Deepti Ratnam | Published: Feb 17, 2026, 09:50 AM (IST)
Day 2 saw strong momentum as the show floor opened to a wider audience, featuring over 300 exhibitors from 30 countries demonstrating real-world AI applications.
Humanoid robots: Deployment-ready humanoids designed for sectors like retail, logistics, and smart agriculture emerged as the biggest attraction, signalling a shift from lab research to practical use.
AI infrastructure: IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced plans to expand India’s compute capacity beyond 38,000 GPUs with an additional 20,000 GPUs, marking the next phase of the country’s AI strategy with an emphasis on responsible deployment.
AI in regional languages: Exhibitors showcased multilingual large language models tailored for India’s linguistic diversity, aiming to help small businesses and rural users adopt AI for tasks like accounting and content creation.
Indian AI models: Vaishnaw noted that several homegrown models have performed on par with,or better than,some international systems across multiple benchmarks.
Focus on responsible AI use: The minister called for a techno-legal framework and stronger regulations to curb misuse, including deepfakes.
Fair pay for content creators: Highlighting copyright concerns, Vaishnaw stressed that publishers, especially news organisations, must receive fair remuneration when their content is used to train AI models, adding that discussions with major platforms are underway.
Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur said AI will significantly reduce the cost of filmmaking, making it easier for aspiring creators to enter the industry. Speaking on the sidelines of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam, he noted that the technology is set to bring in a new wave of filmmakers.
Infosys and Anthropic have partnered to build agentic AI tools for enterprises, starting with the telecom sector. The collaboration will integrate Claude AI with Infosys Topaz to help businesses automate workflows and transition toward AI-first operations.
At the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Wipro Chief Strategy Officer Hari Shetty introduced ‘Health AI’, part of the Wipro Intelligence Solution. The system enables remote diagnostics by sending patient data to the Wipro Intelligence Cloud, where it is analysed to provide recommendations that help doctors improve efficiency.
Speaking at the India AI Impact Summit, Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the government believes stronger regulation is needed to tackle deepfakes. He called the issue a growing concern and said it is important to protect society from the harm such content can cause.
Union Minister for Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw, speaking at the India AI Summit on Tuesday, said India could see over $200 billion in investments across the AI stack over the next two years.
“So far, in the coming two years, we should be seeing more than $200 billion investment across the five layers of the AI stack,” Vaishnaw said during his address at the event.
A spokesperson for the Gates Foundation confirmed on Tuesday (17 February) that Bill Gates will attend the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi and deliver his keynote address as planned, rejecting reports that he would miss the event.
Bill Gates will not attend the AI Summit amid renewed controversy linked to his past association with Jeffrey Epstein. His absence comes as public and media attention around the issue continues.
At the India AI Summit, Amitabh Kant stated that India provides 33% more data inputs to ChatGPT compared to the United States. He highlighted this as a sign of India’s fast-growing adoption of artificial intelligence tools.
The Ministry of Education will host a session titled “Pushing the Frontier of AI in India” on February 17, 2026, at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi, during Day 2 of the India AI Impact Summit 2026.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron for bilateral talks aimed at strengthening ties between India and France. The discussions focused on cooperation in defence, trade, technology, and strategic partnerships.
The AI Impact Expo is now open to the public, allowing visitors to explore the latest advancements in artificial intelligence. Attendees can experience live demos, startup showcases, and discussions on how AI is shaping different industries.
India hosted its AI Summit yesterday, on 16 February 2026, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing tech giants from all over the world. The second day will focus on real-world scenarios for artificial intelligence. The event will be held at Bharat Mandapam and SushmaSwaraj Bhawan.