The world's leading lights on artificial intelligence (AI), including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, were in New Delhi recently for the India AI Impact Summit, the first such gathering to be hosted in Global South.
While their views on the evolution of the technology varied, their views converged on the necessity of global cooperation and India's pivotal role in democratising AI for the world.
The tech titans, including Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis and Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch, outlined the rapid pace of AI and the country’s unique position to shape the next wave.
They also shared their view on artificial general intelligence (AGI) and superintelligence timelines, the need for open-source, autonomous agents and the associated risks.
Here are key takeaways from what the executives said at the summit:
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google
Sundar Pichai at the AI Summit 2026
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai called AI the "biggest platform shift of our lifetimes", saying it was an opportunity to improve lives at a "once-in-a-generation scale". AI can improve billions of lives and solve some of the hardest problems in science.
"We are on the cusp of hyperprogress and new discoveries that can help emerging economies leapfrog legacy gaps... but that outcome is neither guaranteed nor automatic. To build AI that is truly helpful for everyone, we must pursue it boldly, approach it responsibly, and work through this defining moment together," he said.
He warned against allowing the digital divide to become an AI divide.
"Technology brings incredible benefits, but we must ensure everyone has access to them," he said. "No matter how bold we are, or how responsible, we won’t realise AI’s full benefits unless we work together."
Governments must serve as both regulators and innovators — bringing AI into public services while setting clear guardrails and addressing key risks. Companies must build tools that boost productivity and creativity and businesses across all sectors must adopt AI to remain competitive.
Also Read: Google CEO Sundar Pichai says India can be a full-stack AI nation
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries Limited
At the India AI Impact Summit, Mukesh Ambani said AI has the potential to usher in an era of “super abundance,” driving unprecedented gains in knowledge, efficiency and productivity, while noting that the most transformative phase of AI still lies ahead.
He highlighted India’s position as one of the world’s top three startup ecosystems and said Jio, after enabling the country’s internet revolution, now aims to connect India to the intelligence era.
Ambani said Jio will play a larger role in accelerating AI adoption across citizens, industries, public services and social development.
He also stressed that AI will create new jobs rather than eliminate them, adding that India will work with global technology partners as co-architects of the next technological century rather than mere adopters.
Also, read: ‘Will prove AI doesn’t take away jobs’: Mukesh Ambani at AI Impact Summit
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at India AI Impact Summit
Based on the current trajectory, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman believes early versions of true superintelligence may be only a couple of years away.
"If we are right, by the end of 2028, more of the world's intellectual capacity could reside inside of data centres than outside of it,” he said.
A superintelligence would eventually be capable of doing a better job being the CEO of a major company than any executive or doing better research than the best scientists.
Also read: Incredible small language AI models emerging at low costs in India: OpenAI CEO Sam Altman
Hence, democratisation of AI is the only fair and safe path forward and is the best way to ensure that humanity flourishes. "Centralisation of this technology in one company or country could lead to ruin," he said.
India, the world's largest democracy, is well-positioned not just to build AI but to shape what the future looks like.
He stressed on the need to broaden the definition of safety to include societal resilience. "No AI lab or system can deliver a good future on its own," he said.
Altman said he is “less concerned” about the long-term future and exuded confidence that society will adapt in time. “Technology always disrupts jobs. We always find new and better things to do,” he said.
“People 500 years ago would have thought that our current jobs often look silly. People 500 years from now hopefully will look to us like impossibly rich people playing games, trying to find ways to pass their time.”
Also read: AI and job losses explained: Why Sam Altman says companies are using 'AI washing' to justify layoffs
Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei at India AI Impact Summit
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei pointed out that technology and practices pioneered in India have historically set the standard for the Global South, helping to diffuse technology and humanitarian benefits throughout the region.
"India is the world's largest democracy and can be a partner and leader in addressing the global security and economic risks of technology," he said.
Also Read: AI Summit: Can India achieve 20-25% growth because of AI? Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei is optimistic
AI will greatly grow the economic pie including in India and the Global South. However, because it is developing so fast, it may lead to a time of disruption. Amodei stressed that companies and governments must work together to manage this transition and smoothly bring prosperity to all.
AI has been on an exponential rise for the last 10 years. "There are only a small number of years for AI models surpassing the cognitive capabilities of most humans for most things. We're increasingly close to what I've called a country of geniuses in a data center," he said.
AI has the potential to cure diseases that have been incurable for thousands of years, to radically improve human health and to lift billions out of poverty, including in the Global South.
In terms of risks, the Anthropic chief expressed concerns over the autonomous behaviour of AI models, their potential for misuse by individuals and governments, and their potential for economic displacement.
Demis Hassabis, CEO of Google DeepMind
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis at India AI Impact Summit
Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis said India will be a powerhouse for AI, calling the energy around the country "incredibly impressive".
We are currently at a threshold moment where AGI is on the horizon within the next five years. "I think it's going to be one of the most momentous periods in human history, probably something like the advent of fire or electricity," he said.
“I think it's going to be something like 10 times the impact of the Industrial Revolution but happening at 10 times the speed, unfolding in a matter of a decade rather than a century.”
He stressed the need for scientific rigour, international cooperation and inclusive dialogue to ensure AI benefits humanity at large.
"If we get these next steps right, we can usher in a new golden era of scientific discovery and improve the lives and health of everyone in the world," he said.
Arthur Mensch, CEO of Mistral AI
Mistral AI CEO Arthur Mensch at India AI Impact Summit
Mistral CEO Arthur Mensch said India holds a significant advantage in shaping the next wave of AI, pointing to the country’s talent base, market scale and cultural diversity as critical enablers.
“We believe the India opportunity is extremely large. A quarter of our researchers are Indian. Its diversity of culture, its ambition, and the size of its market give it immense leverage in building differentiated AI,” he said.
“By controlling its own AI, India can become a global hub for innovation and help lead the way for the rest of the world.”
Mensch cautioned that the rapid rise of generative AI risks concentrating technological and economic power in the hands of a few companies unless nations actively invest in their own capabilities.
“There is a real risk today of excessive concentration of power in AI,” he said. “We should not live in a world where three or four enormous companies control the deployment of AI and access to information — because AI is increasingly how we access information itself.”
Countries must own their AI destiny to preserve digital autonomy and shape their own futures. We need to decentralise AI deployment and the first step for that is open-source.
Advocating for open-source AI as a necessary first step toward decentralisation, Mensch advised governments to treat AI as foundational infrastructure, akin to energy or telecommunications, and invest accordingly.
Open-source models and local partnerships can help countries avoid widening the digital divide while enabling broader participation in AI-led growth.
Nikesh Arora, CEO of Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora at India AI Impact Summit
Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora warned that AI is accelerating faster than institutions, governance frameworks and even human intuition.
"This widening gap, if not handled right, is going to become a tangible threat to national security, economic stability and social cohesion, making it a defining challenge of our era," he said.
While we continue to make rapid advances on AI, the balance is currently tilted towards speed rather than trust, inclusion and security. "You're seeing features and capabilities coming out as fast as they can, faster than we can absorb them," he said.
India’s digital public infrastructure such as Aadhaar and UPI are proof of what is possible when innovation is paired with inclusion.
"They demonstrate how technology deployed with public good in mind and scaled across a vast population can leapfrog traditional development methodologies," he said, expressing hope that India will apply this same energy to make AI more inclusive, fair, and trustworthy.
Pushing back against fears of immediate job losses, Arora said it will take a long time for AI agents to replace human workers. In fact, "we will need five times the number of technology professionals in the future than we have today".
"We're not going to trust agents that easily and that quickly," he said "For us to be able to trust agents, we have to build a future where the ideas of safety, security, and trust are developed cohesively with technology, not outside of that technology."
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