AI needs to be ‘tool of inclusion’ in Global South – Modi
Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be democratized and turned into a “tool of inclusion” in the Global South, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said.
Addressing the Global AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on Thursday, he highlighted the need to share new technology for the common good.
“We must democratize AI; it must become a tool for inclusion and empowerment, particularly for the Global South,” Modi said. “We are entering an era where humans and intelligent systems co-create, co-work, and co-evolve; AI will make our work smarter, more efficient, and more impactful.”
The prime minister also spoke of the dangers of the misuse of AI and added that child safety was a priority. “Friends, from the beginning we have to be more vigilant towards children’s safety,” he added. “Just like a school syllabus is curated, AI spaces should also be child safe and family guided.”
❗️PM Modi: 'Global South's Aspirations & Priorities Must Be At The Centre Of AI Governance' At the leaders' plenary of the AI Impact Summit, the PM called for a wide ethical scope to combat the "unlimited" unethical behaviour AI has the potential to allow. pic.twitter.com/fv9WupLOqZ
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) February 19, 2026
Modi said the main objective of the summit in the Indian capital was to understand how to make AI “human-centric” rather than “machine-centric” and “how to make it sensitive and responsible.”
Modi’s remarks take on added significance as the AI summit is being hosted in a country representing the Global South for the first time.
He said the future of work in the AI ecosystem “is not predefined, and will be based on our decisions and course of action.”
India’s top six IT services firms lost $43.9 billion in market capital this year, mainly on concerns that AI will wipe out tech projects and jobs, business outlet Mint reported.
Despite such concerns, the country has emerged as one of the key data center markets in Asia. A surge in global demand for cloud services, spurred by the AI boom, has prompted companies to make investments in data center facilities.
Google, Microsoft, and Amazon have already committed a combined $68 billion in AI and cloud infrastructure investment in India through 2030.
The India AI Impact Summit is being envisaged by New Delhi as a platform to position the country as a global hub for artificial intelligence.
