AI Summit 2026: India’s Digital Public Infrastructure a Global Benchmark, Says Macron

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday lauded India’s digital transformation and its pioneering role in technology governance during his address at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, describing the country’s progress as a global benchmark and highlighting the growing partnership between India and France in shaping the future of artificial intelligence.

Speaking at the summit held at Bharat Mandapam, Macron began by expressing his appreciation for the reception in India.

"Namaste. Thank you very much for welcoming us to this magnificent city, in this magnificent country. It's great to be back after my 2024 state visit for this Artificial Intelligence Impact Summit hosted by you, Prime Minister," he said.

He applauded India for playing a key role in democratizing Digital Public Infrastructure and underscored the scale of financial inclusion achieved over the past decade.

"Ten years ago, a street vendor cannot open a bank account in Mumbai but today he can accept payments online. No address, no papers, no access and today the same vendor accepts payments on his phone," Macron said.

Highlighting the breadth of India’s digital ecosystem, the French President said, "India built something that no other country in the world has built. A digital identity for 1.4 billion people. A payment system that now processes 20 billion transactions every month. A health infrastructure that has issued 500 million digital health IDs. Here are the results. They call it the India Stack Open Interoperable Sovereign. That is what this summit is about. We are clearly at the beginning of a huge acceleration, and you perfectly described it during your interventions."

Why did Macron highlight India’s sovereign AI and small language model strategy at the summit?

Macron also stressed the transformative role of artificial intelligence in accelerating innovation and addressing global challenges.

"We say that Artificial Intelligence will be an enabler for our humanity to innovate faster, to disrupt healthcare, energy, mobility, agriculture, and public services for the good of mankind. Both of us, we do believe in this revolution. AI has become a major field of strategic competition, and big tech got even bigger," he added.

Emphasising the geopolitical and economic implications of emerging technologies, he said, "AI, GPU, chips are now directly translated in geopolitical and macroeconomic terms. Some time for the best, some time for the worst, I have to say."

"One year ago, we demonstrated something else... India made a deliberate sovereign choice, SML, small language models. Task-specific, designed to run on a smartphone, India built the first government-funded AI and deployed 38,000 GPUs at the cheapest rates to every startup in the country," he said.

Praising India’s use of technology for public good, Macron said the future of AI would depend on a balance between innovation and responsibility.

"I started with a story about a street vendor in Mumbai. Ten years ago, the world told India that 1.4 billion people could not be brought into the digital economy. India proved them wrong," Macron said.

"Today, some say AI is a game only the biggest can play...India, France, Europe, together with our partners, those who believe in our approach, companies, governments, investors, might have a different way...The future of AI will be built by those who combine innovation and responsibility, technology with humanity, and India and France will help to shape this future together," he added.

The summit, being hosted by India from February 16 to 20, serves as a platform for global leaders, nations and international institutions to deliberate on the responsible and sovereign application of artificial intelligence.

Anchored in three foundational pillars or ‘Sutras’ of People, Planet, and Progress, the event reflects India’s emphasis on multilateral collaboration to address global challenges and unlock opportunities for shared growth, while reinforcing the strong bilateral and technological partnership between India and France.

(With inputs from ANI)