NEW DELHI, FEB 18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in a significant discussion with Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and its parent company Alphabet Inc., on the sidelines of the prestigious India AI Impact Summit underway at Bharat Mandapam, focusing on accelerating India’s leadership in artificial intelligence and forging deeper collaborations between the tech giant and the country’s burgeoning talent pool.
The meeting underscored India’s rapid strides in AI innovation, with Modi highlighting ongoing government initiatives, research breakthroughs, and the ecosystem being built to position the nation as a global AI powerhouse by 2047. Pichai, a key attendee at the high-profile event, explored avenues for Google to partner with Indian students, researchers, startups, and professionals—potentially through skill development programs, internships, joint R&D projects, and access to cutting-edge tools like Google’s Gemini models and cloud infrastructure.
Pichai arrived in the capital specifically for the summit, which runs alongside a massive expo featuring over 600 high-potential AI startups from across India, alongside 13 international country pavilions that showcase global collaborations, technology transfers, and investment opportunities in the AI domain. The event has drawn an elite gathering: more than 20 heads of state, 60 ministers from allied nations, and around 500 top global AI leaders, researchers, and policymakers, making it one of the largest AI conclaves hosted in the country.
Modi himself inaugurated and toured the India AI Impact Expo on Monday, interacting with innovators and witnessing live demonstrations of AI applications in sectors like healthcare, agriculture, education, and governance. Reflecting on the productive exchange, the Prime Minister shared on X: “It was a delight to meet Mr. Sundar Pichai on the sidelines of the AI Impact Summit in Delhi. Talked about the work India is doing in AI and how Google can work with our talented students and professionals in this field.” This rendezvous signals stronger India-US tech ties amid global competition in AI, with expectations of concrete announcements on talent skilling and startup funding in the coming days.
