PM Modi makes a pitch for democratisation of artificial intelligence

PM says India should be among the top three AI superpowers, not just in consumption, but in creation as well

Stressing India’s efforts to make artificial intelligence (AI) “human-centric”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for democratisation of the technology so that its “benefits” are “diffused to everyone and not just hoarded by early adopters”. 

In an interview focused on the AI Impact Summit, being held in New Delhi, to news agency Asian News International, the PM said his vision for AI in Aatmanirbhar Bharat rests on three pillars- sovereignty, inclusivity, and innovation. “My vision is that India should be among the top three AI superpowers globally, not just in the consumption of AI, but in creation,” he said. 

PM Modi said he understands the concern of India’s youth about AI-driven disruptions in the job market. 

“Preparation is the best antidote to fear. That is why we have been investing in skilling and re-skilling our people for an AI-driven future,” he said. 

PM Modi said he views AI as a force-multiplier which will further help us push the boundaries of what we thought possible.  “History has shown that work does not disappear due to technology. Its nature changes and new types of jobs are created.  While some jobs may be redefined, digital transformation will also add new tech jobs to India's economy,” he said. PM Modi said that combining innovation with inclusion, “we are confident that AI will strengthen India's workforce”. The PM said the theme of the summit is structured around “people, planet and progress”. “AI systems draw upon knowledge and data generated across societies worldwide. Therefore, we want AI's benefits to be diffused to everyone and not just hoarded by early adopters,” he said. PM Modi said the Summit is the first such event hosted in the Global South, and “India is creating a platform that amplifies under-represented voices and development priorities”. “AI governance, inclusive datasets, climate applications, agricultural productivity, public health, and multilingual access are not peripheral issues for us. They are central. Our vision is clear- AI must accelerate global development while remaining deeply human-centric,” he said. 

The PM said that today AI stands at a civilisational inflection point. “It can expand human capability in unprecedented ways, but it can also test existing social foundations if left unguided. That is why we have deliberately framed this Summit around impact that ensures meaningful and equitable outcomes, not just innovation,” he said, adding that the guiding spirit of the summit is Sarvajan Hitay, Sarvajan Sukhaye  (welfare for all, happiness of all) and underlines that “technology exists to serve humanity, not replace it.” 

The PM said leveraging AI mindfully, with a strategic lens, would help address deep developmental challenges while creating entirely new economic opportunities, enabling inclusive growth, bridging the urban-rural divide and expanding access to opportunity. 

PM Modi spoke of AI’s role in agriculture, healthcare, education, heritage preservation and pointed out how dairy cooperative Amul has used AI to provide 3.6 million women dairy farmers across thousands of villages real-time guidance in Gujarati on cattle health and productivity. “At a time when the world is worried about AI deepening divides, India is using it to dissolve divides,” the PM said. 

The PM said the concerns regarding bias and limitations in AI remain deeply relevant. 

“As AI adoption accelerates, the risks also scale. AI systems can inadvertently perpetuate biases related to gender, language and socio-economic background,” he said, adding that it is “an issue that needs global cooperation.” 

In the context of AI, the PM said India faces unique challenges and opportunities. He said India’s linguistic, cultural, and regional diversity means that AI bias can manifest in ways that might not be obvious in western contexts. “An AI system trained primarily on English data or urban contexts may perform poorly for rural users or speakers of regional languages,” he said, but pointed out that India is beginning to address this more systematically. Modi said that in India, “we are seeing increased focus on creating diverse datasets that represent India's plurality, greater emphasis on AI development in regional languages, and growing research on fairness and bias in Indian academic institutions and tech companies.” With the AI Impact Summit set to give voice to the concerns of the Global South, the PM said India's Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) journey offers crucial and practical lessons for the Global South. The convergence of DPI and AI is the next frontier of inclusive development, he said, and pointed to India’s success with Aadhaar. 

He said AI’s benefits should not remain confined to the narrow urban elite. “Technology must serve every citizen, regardless of geography, gender or income,” he said. 

“The goal is not AI adoption for its own sake. It is AI that genuinely empowers citizens and accelerates India's journey toward becoming a developed nation by 2047, and offers a scalable model for the Global South,” PM Modi said. The PM said the Union Budget 2026-27 has expanded support for data centres and cloud infrastructure, strengthening domestic compute capacity. Continued push for semiconductor manufacturing, electronics PLI, AI Centres of Excellence and digital skilling strengthens both hardware and human capital foundations, he said. 

PM Modi said AI presents both a tremendous opportunity and a challenge for India’s Information Technology sector. AI market projections show India's IT sector could reach $400 billion by 2030, driven by new waves of AI-enabled outsourcing and domain-specific automation, he said. “While general-purpose AI tools have become widespread, enterprise-grade AI adoption is still concentrated in specific sectors, and incumbent IT firms continue to play crucial roles in solving complex business problems,” PM Modi said.

 

He said the government has responded with a comprehensive strategy centered on the India-AI Mission. “We have established four Centres of Excellence in healthcare, agriculture, education and sustainable cities plus five National Centres of Excellence for Skilling to equip our workforce with industry-relevant AI expertise,” he said.

 

To a question on the possible harm of AI technology to Indians, the PM said that while AI may enhance human capabilities, the ultimate responsibility for decision-making must always remain with human beings. India is helping shape this conversation by showing that strong safeguards can coexist with continued innovation, he said, but called for a global compact on AI, built upon certain fundamental principles. “These should include effective human oversight, safety-by-design, transparency and strict prohibitions on the use of AI for deepfakes, crime and terrorist activities,” he said. The PM said that with the launch of the IndiaAI Safety Institute in January 2025, the country created a dedicated mechanism to promote the ethical, safe, and responsible deployment of AI systems.

 

“What makes India's approach distinctive is its focus on local risks and societal realities. The emerging risk assessment framework considers national security concerns as well as harms to vulnerable groups, including deepfakes targeting women, child safety risks, and threats affecting the elderly,” he said.

 

The PM said India has notified rules requiring watermarking of AI-generated content and the removal of harmful synthetic media. He said India has consistently advocated a balanced path of advancing innovation while building safeguards for safe and inclusive “AI for all”.