India’s AI journey and its quest for elusive ‘DeepSeek moment’

FOR THE MODI GOVT, THE AI SUMMIT WAS PART DIPLOMATIC SHOWCASE, PART INVESTMENT PITCH, AND PART DECLARATION OF AMBITION, SURI SAID

- HT Correspondent

Just weeks ago, India hosted the 2026 AI Impact Summit, the latest chapter in a global process that began in the United Kingdom in 2023. For India, the stakes could not be higher: it is a country with immense technical talent and a data-rich digital ecosystem, but also a services-led growth model that AI could either boost or seriously disrupt.

For the Modi government, the summit was part diplomatic showcase, part investment pitch, and part declaration of ambition. To discuss the summit and its key takeaways, Anirudh Suri appeared on a recent episode of Grand Tamasha, a weekly podcast on Indian politics and policy co-produced by HT and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Suri is a nonresident scholar with Carnegie India, where he works on issues related to technology, geopolitics, climate, and strategic affairs. He is also a managing partner at India Internet Fund, a technology-focused venture capital fund based in India and the United States. He is the author of The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations, published in 2022.