(Commonwealth_India) The fourth and most closely watched day of the global artificial intelligence summit in New Delhi unfolded with a sense of both excitement and unease, a reflection of how the world currently feels about AI itself. Leaders, tech executives, researchers, and policymakers filled the halls, not just to celebrate technological breakthroughs, but to wrestle with the difficult questions that come with them.
On stage, Antonio Guterres spoke with visible urgency. Artificial intelligence, he warned, is advancing at extraordinary speed, and its future should not be shaped solely by a handful of powerful tech billionaires. His worry was not about modernization itself but about inequity: who controls it, who benefits from it, and who might be left out. Guterres called on universal technology leaders to support a planned $3 billion international fund that would help make AI tools available to emerging nations, guaranteeing the technology does not extend global inequality.
French President Emmanuel Macron delivered a message of determination. Europe, he said, does not intend to stand on the sidelines while others dictate the future of AI. Despite the prevalent portrayal of Europe as a regulatory-heavy region, Macron underscored its potential for bold innovation and investment, albeit with necessary safeguards. He made it clear that development and defense can and must coexist.
This summit—the fourth in a series that began in 2023 with meetings in France, South Korea, and the United Kingdom—is the largest yet. Thousands have been collected, reflecting how dominant AI has become to economic growth, national security, and everyday life. Conversations range from the risk of widespread job disruption to the protection of children online, from deepfake misinformation to the ethical limits of machine decision-making.
There was also a notable absence. Shortly before the event, Bill Gates, the scheduled speaker, withdrew. The Gates Foundation said the decision was made to keep attention on the summit’s priorities, as Gates continues to face scrutiny over his past association with Jeffrey Epstein. Despite the presence of another foundation representative, the absence of Bill Gates in a gathering filled with high-profile figures was still widely noticeable.
For India, hosting this summit carries symbolic and strategic weight. It is the first time such a global AI meeting has been held in a developing country, and the government has used the opportunity to showcase the country’s technological ambitions. India’s rapid climb to third place in a global AI competitiveness ranking compiled by Stanford researchers has boosted national confidence. Yet there is also realism: experts acknowledge that matching the scale and resources of the United States and China will take sustained investment in infrastructure, research, and computing power.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke passionately about India’s potential. He pointed to recent AI models developed by Indian firms and argued that solutions built for India’s vast, diverse population could have global relevance. If a system can work effectively across India’s many languages, regions, and socio-economic conditions, he suggested, it can work anywhere.
More than ambition, Modi emphasized responsibility. AI, he said, must be shared openly and developed in ways that empower ordinary people—especially young innovators. India’s millions of young minds, he argued, should not just consume AI technology but improve it, shape it, and make it safer. Breaking briefly into English, he captured the moment with a forward-looking thought: humanity is entering an era where humans and intelligent systems will “co-create, co-work, and co-evolve.”
As discussions continued, the idea of partnership rather than replacement lingered in the air. Beneath the policy debates and funding announcements lies a deeper question that everyone at the summit seems to recognize: AI is no longer a distant possibility. It is already reshaping economies, workplaces, and societies. The challenge now is not whether it will transform the world, but whether global leaders can guide that transformation in a way that feels fair, inclusive and humane.
