India AI summit curtain-raiser held in Seattle with focus on progress

With India set to host a crucial AI summit next year, a special curtain-raiser event focusing on the summit's three pillars, people, planet and progress, was organised in Seattle, covering themes such as AI in agri-tech and India's digital infrastructure.

The pre-event curtain-raiser was hosted by the Consulate General of India in Seattle on Friday.

It focused on the three pillars of India's AI Impact Summit: People, Planet and Progress, the Consulate said in a press release.

The roundtable featured expert presentations by leading tech CEOs from the Greater Seattle area and covered themes like the use of AI in agri-tech and the potential of data centres and digital infrastructure in India.

Participants also briefed US Congressman and Ranking Member of the House Armed Services Committee Adam Smith and Congressman and Member of the House Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees Michael Baumgartner about India's progress in AI.

They highlighted the Seven Chakras' or themes for global cooperation centred around safe and trusted AI -- human capital, science, resilience, innovation and efficiency, inclusion and social empowerment, democratising AI resources, and economic growth and social good.

India AI Impact Summit 2026: Pre-Event Briefing Session hosted in Seattle! Thank US Rep. Adam Smith and US Rep. Michael Baumgartner for gracing the Pre-Summit Roundtable. Deeply appreciate presentations from Tech and AI Industry leaders underscoring the Three Sutras / Pillars of India's AI journey: People, Planet and Progress, the Seattle Consulate said on X.

The briefing at the new Chancery premises of the Indian Consulate in Seattle was the first such curtain raiser in a series of sessions being planned in the run-up to the AI India Impact Summit.

Workshops and briefing sessions are being planned at leading universities in the US Pacific Northwest, as well as with leading tech and AI industry stakeholders in January 2026, the Consulate said.

The India-AI Impact Summit 2026 will be held February 19-20 in New Delhi, the first global-scale AI summit hosted in the Global South.

The summit will bring together governments, industry, academia, and startups from global capitals to translate AI's potential into tangible outcomes for People, Planet, and Progress and reaffirm India's vision of AI for All, the release said.

Meanwhile, the Consulate General of India in New York said that in the lead-up to the AI Summit in India, three flagship initiatives will be rolled out over the next two months.

The initiatives are, AI for ALL: Global Impact Challenge to identify leading AI solutions across sectors turning vision into impact; AI by HER: Global Impact Challenge to promote the scaling and adoption of women-led AI solutions to enable social impact, and YUVAi: Global Youth Challenge to showcase innovation by youth (13-21 years) while fostering AI enabled problem-solving for social good.

As a precursor to the India AI Impact Summit, the Consulate in New York last month hosted a session, From Traction to Transaction: Bridging the Gap'.

During the session, Consul General of India in New York Binaya Pradhan highlighted the growing India-US economic, technological and people-to-people engagement.

Addressing the event, former Union Minister and Founder and Chairperson, Alliance for Global Good, Smriti Irani had underscored India's leadership in digital public infrastructure, startup innovation and women-led development, positioning it as a natural partner for the US in shaping an equitable and human-centric AI future.