India built what no other country could: Macron at India AI Summit 2026

Describing the India summit as a foundation for digital transformation, Macron said the summit reflected the need to shape AI growth responsibly amid rapid technological acceleration

Speaking on Day 4 of the India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, French President Emmanuel Macron praised India’s digital public infrastructure (DPI) as unmatched globally, calling it proof that the world has entered a new phase of artificial intelligence (AI)-driven acceleration. 

Macron said India’s achievements in AI showed how open, interoperable and sovereign digital systems can enable inclusive transformation at scale. 

“India has built what no other nation has,” Macron said, pointing to the country’s digital identity framework covering 1.4 billion people, a payments ecosystem processing nearly 20 billion transactions every month, and a health platform that has issued more than 500 million digital health IDs. 

 

Describing the India summit as a foundation for digital transformation, Macron said the summit reflected the need to shape AI growth responsibly as the world stands at the beginning of a massive technological acceleration.

From Paris to Delhi: 'AI Together'

Recalling the AI Action Summit hosted in Paris last year, Macron said both countries had already laid down guiding principles for technologies that would reshape societies and economies. 

Artificial Intelligence, he said, must be used to innovate faster and disrupt sectors such as healthcare, energy, mobility, agriculture and public services for the benefit of mankind. 

“Last year we called it Action, this year in Delhi we call it Impact,  but the real name is AI Together,” Macron said, adding that both he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi firmly believed in the AI revolution.

AI as a geopolitical race

Macron warned that AI had rapidly turned into a field of strategic competition, with large technology companies becoming even bigger and several countries launching major AI models over the past year. 

He said AI capability, Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) and chip expansion were now directly linked to geopolitical and economic power, making leadership in AI models, infrastructure and talent crucial.  ALSO READ | AI Summit: PM Modi bats for democratisation of AI, making it human-centric

Innovation with independence

Macron said India and France were jointly pursuing a path that balances innovation, independence and harmony. 

He highlighted India’s strategy of developing small language models and AI systems designed for mobile phones, along with its progress in chip development, noting that the country has produced 38,000 chips at competitive costs. 

He said both India and Europe were choosing independence in AI model development and manufacturing. 

France, he added, had announced a euro 9 billion AI investment at the Paris summit last year and was delivering through new data centres largely powered by low-carbon energy, enabling faster and more sustainable computing capacity.

Talent and inclusive AI

 

Macron underscored India’s strength in human capital, saying the country employs thousands of AI engineers and has the world’s second-largest engineering community. 

In France, he said, the number of AI scientists and engineers had doubled, with more than 1,100 startups active in the ecosystem and creating jobs. 

“The smartest AI is not the most expensive one, but the one built by the people for the right purpose,” he said, stressing that models, infrastructure, talent and capital must work together. 

Macron said India’s AI ecosystem was already delivering benefits across sectors, from farmers to healthcare providers, powered by its strong digital public infrastructure. Adoption and inclusivity, he added, were essential.  ALSO READ | India unveils 3 sovereign AI models at Delhi Summit: Key features, details

Child protection and responsible AI

Macron said AI could act as a major accelerator but also bring significant disruptions to labour markets, making universal access critical. He referred to the launch of Indo-French cooperation initiatives, including collaboration on AI for Earth and sustainable development, as well as joint efforts on open translation tools for Indian languages and dialects to promote linguistic diversity and broaden access. 

As a Group of Seven (G7) member, Macron said France had a responsibility to protect children against AI-driven abuse, stressing that there must be no tolerance for child exploitation online. He noted that France had already taken steps to regulate children’s access to social networks. 

Macron expressed confidence that India would also join global efforts to protect children from AI-related abuse, calling child protection a “matter of civilisation”.

Keeping AI accessible and affordable

Concluding his remarks, Macron said France viewed India as a key ally in ensuring AI remains accessible, affordable and responsibly governed. The focus, he said, must remain on developing tools that protect citizens while enabling innovation.

  AI and digitalisation, Macron added, will be central to shaping inclusive growth and future prosperity, and India and France  intend to build that future together.