'Three Major Takeaways From This AI Summit...': Ashwini Vaishnaw At GBS 2026

India

is all set to host one of the world's biggest AI summits that will begin in a couple of days. The event is set to start on February 16, 2026, in India and will conclude on February 20, 2026. Regarding the same, Union Minister of Railways of India, Ashwini Vaishnaw, highlighted the impact of artificial intelligence in India at the ET NOW Global Business Summit 2026. On that note, here are the three major takeaways from the minister's speech.

AI For The Benefit Of Masses

Ashwini Vaishnaw said, first is how do we make sure our people, society, industry and students get the benefit of this new technology. AI diffusion will bring the return on investment which is needed for long term growth of the industry to bring the productivity. Those productivity/ROI gains will come from diffusion. And that’s why AI models are open source models available in hundreds of thousands…how to we use the models, how do we create those solutions which are real-life solutions, bring a change in society, economy and industry. So, impact is going to be the big focus.'India Declares To The World It Is Rising': Times Group MD Vineet Jain Outlines India's Growth Story At GBS 2026

Data Protection

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, 'second is about sovereign models and how do we make sure that our data is protected and how do we make sure our sovereign models are getting the right platforms which they deserve.'

India's Position In The Semiconductor Industry

Ashwini Vaishnaw said in the Global Business Summit 2026 regarding India's position in the semiconductor industry. He said, 'In the last few years, our progress in semiconductors is noteworthy…When we used to talk about semiconductors earlier, people used to put a question mark on us, but things changed by 2024.'

A Little About The India AI Impact Summit 2026

As per the details, the summit is going to bring more than 15 heads of government, 50 ministers, and around 40 Indian and International CEOs. The summit is scheduled to be held from February 16 to February 20, 2026, at the Bharat Mandapam in Pragati Maidan, New Delhi. And the sessions will be running daily from 10:00 AM IST to 6:00 PM IST.