Google CEO Sundar Pichai Arrives in New Delhi for Landmark AI Impact Summit 2026

New Delhi, February 18, 2026 — Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai has arrived in the Indian capital to attend the high-profile India AI Impact Summit 2026. Taking to the social media platform X shortly after landing, Pichai expressed his enthusiasm for the visit, stating, “Nice to be back in India for the AI Impact Summit – a very warm welcome as always and the papers looked great too.”

The visit underscores India’s growing importance as a global hub for artificial intelligence and follows Google’s massive recent commitments to the country’s digital infrastructure.

A Global Stage for AI Innovation

The five-day summit, held at the Bharat Mandapam, is being organized by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) under the IndiaAI Mission. It has drawn an unprecedented gathering of global leaders, including:

• Heads of State: Leaders from over 20 nations, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
• Tech Titans: Alongside Pichai, the event features OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Nvidia’s Jensen Huang, and Microsoft President Brad Smith.
• Industry Pioneers: Local giants like Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani are also playing key roles in the discussions.

Pichai is scheduled to deliver a highly anticipated keynote address on February 20 at 9:30 AM, where he is expected to elaborate on Google’s “full-stack” partnership with India.

Google’s Vision: Partnering Across the “Full Stack”

Ahead of his arrival, Pichai emphasized that Google’s message to India is one of deep, structural partnership. In recent statements, he highlighted that the company aims to support India’s AI trajectory through several key pillars:

1. Infrastructure & Compute: Google is partnering with Reliance Jio to build a dedicated cloud region and has announced a landmark $15 billion investment to establish an AI hub in Visakhapatnam.
2. Sustainable Energy: To power the massive compute needs of AI, Google is investing in renewable energy, including a 150 MW solar project in Rajasthan in collaboration with partners like CleanMax and the Adani Group.
3. Local Research & Open Models: The tech giant is funding AI Centres of Excellence at premier institutions like IIT Madras and IISc Bengaluru to focus on agriculture, healthcare, and urban governance.
4. Language Inclusion: Through grants to startups like BharatGen and Gnani.AI, Google is pushing for “Indic language” AI models to ensure the technology reaches India’s diverse population.

Why the 2026 Summit Matters

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 is the first major global AI gathering hosted in the Global South. It revolves around three foundational “Sutras”: People, Planet, and Progress.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who inaugurated the event, has positioned India as a leader in “responsible and inclusive AI.” With the country boasting the world’s second-largest AI workforce and a data consumption rate of over 24GB per user per month, global companies are no longer just looking at India as a market, but as the primary engine for AI development and deployment.

“India is going to have an extraordinary trajectory and opportunity with AI,” Pichai noted. “Our role is to provide the infrastructure, open models, and research needed for this transformation.”

What’s Next?

As the summit continues, all eyes are on the upcoming GPAI (Global Partnership on AI) Council meeting on February 20, which will coincide with Pichai’s keynote. Industry experts expect further announcements regarding sovereign AI clouds and new regulatory frameworks designed to balance innovation with safety.

For Sundar Pichai, this trip is more than a homecoming; it is a strategic reinforcement of Google’s $185 billion global AI capex plan, with India sitting firmly at the center of that map.