Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: FORMER UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has lauded India’s unique position in the global AI transformation, crediting its digital public infrastructure for enabling widespread adoption during keynote addresses at the India AI Impact Summit 2026. Sunak said there is incredible optimism and trust towards AI in India, while in the West, the overriding feeling is one of anxiety at the moment. He said, India has recognised that leadership in technology does not just depend on inventing technology; it’s about how you deploy it.
Sunak reflected on the rapid acceleration of AI and the responsibility it demands, drawing from the first AI Safety Summit he hosted at Bletchley Park. He stressed the need to balance innovation with safety, noting that “artificial intelligence can do many things, but it will never replace the wonder of human experience.” He contrasted the telephone’s 75-year journey to reach 100 million users with ChatGPT achieving the same milestone in just two months, illustrating the unprecedented pace of change.
Sunak highlighted India’s strengths, pointing to Aadhaar, UPI, health accounts and other digital public infrastructure as the foundations to scale AI for 1.4 billion people. He praised the country’s thriving startup ecosystem, growing unicorn base and innovations such as Sarvam AI, arguing that the “real race” in AI lies in widespread adoption rather than frontier breakthroughs alone. Citing global challenges in food security, healthcare access and education gaps, he said AI offers scalable solutions — empowering farmers, supporting maternal healthcare and delivering personalised learning — to “raise the floor for humanity” and create equality of opportunity
