NEW DELHI, Feb 16, (AP): India is hosting an artificial intelligence summit this week, bringing together heads of state, senior officials and tech executives to New Delhi for a five-day gathering highlighting the growing global importance of the technology. Organizers said the India AI Impact Summit is the first such summit being held in the Global South to discuss the technology developed and dominated by wealthy companies based in rich countries.

It comes at a pivotal moment as AI rapidly transforms economies, reshapes labor markets and raises questions around regulations, security and ethics. From generative AI tools that can produce text and images to advanced systems used in defense, health care and climate modeling, AI has become a central focus for governments and corporations across the world.

The summit, previously held in France, the UK and South Korea, has evolved far beyond its modest beginnings as a meeting tightly focused on the safety of cutting-edge AI systems into an all-purpose jamboree trade fair in which safety is just one aspect. India - the world’s most populous nation and one of the fastest-growing digital markets - sees the summit as an opportunity to project itself as a bridge between advanced economies and the Global South.

Officials said the country’s experience in building large-scale digital public infrastructure, including digital identity and payment platforms, offer a model for deploying AI at scale while keeping costs low. "The goal is clear: AI should be used for shaping humanity, inclusive growth and a sustainable future,” India’s Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said.

The summit begins Monday and will be attended by 20 heads of state and government, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a session Thursday. Google’s Chief Executive Sundar Pichai, Qualcomm’s CEO Cristiano Amon, OpenAI’s CEO Sam Altman, Microsoft’s President Brad Smith and AMI Labs Executive Chairman Yann LeCun are also expected to attend.

Indian executives are hoping the summit will reflect the country’s recognition as an enabler of national capabilities, economic resilience and long-term capabilities. "As India continues on the journey to become a developed nation by 2047, AI has a critical role to play in strengthening large scale systems, from energy and manufacturing to public infrastructure,” said Sumant Sinha, the CEO of the NASDAQ-listed ReNew, a clean energy company.