February 17, 2026. The thing is, New Delhi isn’t just hosting a conference; it’s staging a comeback. After a bruising 2025 defined by 50% U.S. tariffs and border skirmishes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spent the first two months of this year flipping the script. Between a landmark trade truce with the U.S. and the arrival of every major AI “luminaries” at Bharat Mandapam, the India AI Impact Summit is the ultimate reset button. Let’s be real—hosting Sam Altman, Sundar Pichai, and Emmanuel Macron while securing a potential 100 billion in investment isn’t just about tech; it’s about power.
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Field Notes: The New Delhi Reset
The Trade Pivot: Trump slashed U.S. tariffs on Indian goods from 50% to 18% on February 2. The catch? India is ditching Russian oil for U.S. energy and promising a 500 billion purchase plan. It’s transactional, but it’s working.
The “Luminaries” List: Sam Altman (OpenAI), Sundar Pichai (Google), and Dario Amodei (Anthropic) are all here. The only major no-show? Jensen Huang (Nvidia), who pulled out last minute, though his team is still on the ground.
Sovereign AI: India is pushing its “Sarvajana Hitaya” (welfare for all) theme. They’re making world-class compute power available for less than 1 an hour to domestic researchers.
Economic Optimism: Goldman Sachs just bumped India’s 2026 GDP forecast to 6.9% thanks to the U.S. trade deal. The government is even more bullish, eyeing 7.4%.
AI Job Surge: While people fear displacement, the data suggests a different story. Reports indicate India will need 1 million AI professionals by the end of 2026.
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[Visual Description: A sweeping wide-angle shot of a glowing Bharat Mandapam at night, its facade illuminated with the summit’s “Three Chakras” logo (People, Planet, Progress), with the New Delhi skyline shimmering in the background under a rare clear February sky.]
The 2026 “Big Three” Stats
| Feature | Current Value (Feb 2026) | Trend / Impact |
| U.S. Trade Tariff | 18% (Reciprocal) | Down from 50% (Feb 2 Deal) |
| Projected GDP Growth | 7.4% (FY26) | Buoyed by U.S./EU Trade Pacts |
| AI Talent Demand | 1 Million Skilled Workers | Surge in B.Tech AI/ML Seats (+50%) |
| Foreign Investment | $50 Billion+ (Amazon/Microsoft) | Focused on Data Centers & Cloud |
| Repo Rate | 5.25% | Status Quo (Downside risks receded) |
And Here’s the Kicker…
The real story isn’t the CEOs in suits; it’s the $500 billion commitment India just made to the U.S. The thing is, while PM Modi hasn’t confirmed every detail of Trump’s “zero tariff” claim, the alignment is unmistakable. India is effectively swapping its energy dependence on Russia for a high-tech alliance with the West. And here’s the kicker: with China largely sealed off from U.S. Big Tech, India is the only market that offers this level of scale. Whether it’s the A20 Pro 2nm chip leaks or the ₹2.5 crore prizes for women-led AI innovation, India is betting that being the “world’s back office” was just the warm-up act. The “SaaSpocalypse” might be scaring IT investors, but in New Delhi, the mood is pure expansion. Or nothing.
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