Modi champions ethical, inclusive AI as Indian start-ups gain global prominence
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged Indian artificial intelligence start-ups to build ethical, inclusive and globally competitive AI solutions, as the country prepares to host the India AI Impact Summit 2026 next month.
Chairing a roundtable at his residence in New Delhi, Modi met founders from 12 AI start-ups selected under the AI for ALL: Global Impact Challenge, highlighting the government’s ambition to position India as a global hub for affordable and responsible AI.
Addressing the participants, the prime minister described start-ups and AI entrepreneurs as the “co-architects of India’s future,” underscoring the transformative role artificial intelligence can play in shaping both India’s economy and the global technology landscape.
The participating firms showcased innovations spanning Indian-language foundation models, multilingual large language models, speech-to-text and text-to-video platforms, 3D generative content for e-commerce and marketing, engineering simulations, materials research, advanced analytics and healthcare diagnostics.
Start-up leaders said India’s AI ecosystem was witnessing rapid growth and argued that the global centre of gravity for AI innovation and deployment was increasingly shifting towards the country, supported by a strong and enabling policy environment.
Modi called for the development of home-grown AI models aligned with the vision of “Made in India, Made for the World,” with a focus on indigenous content, regional languages and local contexts. He also stressed that AI systems built in India must be ethical, unbiased and transparent, with robust safeguards for data privacy.
Highlighting global trust in India as a key national strength, the prime minister urged start-ups to aim for international leadership and position the country as a champion of frugal, inclusive and scalable AI innovation. He assured founders of continued government support to help Indian AI solutions succeed globally.
The roundtable was attended by executives from companies including Avataar, BharatGen, Fractal, GAN, Genloop, Gnani, Intellihealth, Sarvam, Shodh AI, Soket AI, Tech Mahindra and Zenteiq. Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and Minister of State Jitin Prasada were also present.
