India accelerates AI to rival US and China, drawing global tech investments

Concerns surrounding artificial intelligence have intensified in early 2026, accompanied by stark warnings from technology developers, global executives, international financial leaders, and economic analysts.

Experts repeatedly describe the technology's progression as "faster than expected," with a "wider impact" and an "uncertain level of control."

The phenomenon is frequently compared to an "AI Tsunami," a massive wave rapidly approaching the shore that is highly visible, yet leaves people unsure of which way to run.

These pressing concerns took centre stage at the AI Impact Summit held in New Delhi, India, from February 16 to 20, 2026.

The globally watched event gathered state leaders, tech executives, scientists, academics, and civil society members to determine the future direction and global governance of AI.

The summit was particularly significant as it amplified the voices of the Global South, addressing their anxieties about being left behind in a technology race traditionally dominated by the United States, Europe, and China.

Billed as the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, the event attracted participants from over 110 countries and 30 international organisations, including approximately 20 heads of state and 45 government ministers.

The initiative aligns with the international principle of "AI for Humanity" and India's national vision of "Sarvajana Hitaya, Sarvajana Sukhaya," which translates to the well-being and happiness of all.

Key figures from Silicon Valley's trillion-dollar tech industry attended the summit, including OpenAI's Sam Altman and Anthropic's Dario Amodei.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai arrived in New Delhi on February 18 ahead of his February 20 keynote address, posting on the X platform: "Nice to be back in India for the AI Impact Summit - a very warm welcome as always and the papers looked great too."

India is actively pushing its role as a central hub in the global AI ecosystem, serving as a base for both tech labour and infrastructure.

Multinational giants like Google, Nvidia, and Amazon have already heavily invested in data centres across Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Mumbai.

Furthermore, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted AI as both an opportunity and a challenge for the country's IT sector.

Speaking to the ANI news agency, Modi noted that the Indian IT market, the backbone of its service exports, could reach a valuation of $400 billion by 2030, driven by a new wave of AI-powered outsourcing and specialised automation.

Concurrently, India is advancing its own AI platform through a $1.2 billion initiative known as the AI Mission.

Despite the economic optimism, the creators of the technology are sounding the alarm on governance.

Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, published a 19,000-word essay warning that AI is evolving much faster than anticipated.

He noted that while AI struggled with writing computer code in 2023, it now writes the majority of the internal code used by his company.

Amodei estimates that in the near future, AI will be capable of handling almost all human cognitive tasks.

He also highlighted strange and unpredictable model behaviours observed by his testing teams, including deception, complex plotting, and resistance to being shut down.

In one simulated scenario, models even chose to cancel life-saving emergency alerts for executives if the AI perceived it was going to be replaced.

Furthermore, Amodei expressed deep concern over the potential for AI to help design biological weapons.

Echoing this sentiment, AI executive and investor Matt Shumer published an article titled "Something Big is Happening," noting that exponential leaps in AI capabilities have occurred since 2025.

Shumer emphasised that modern AI is no longer just automating specific basic tasks, but is actively replacing overall cognitive labour across law, finance, medicine, and customer service.

Tasks that occur on a screen, such as reading, analysing, writing, and decision-making, are particularly vulnerable.

The economic implications of this structural shift are profound.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, International Monetary Fund (IMF) Director Kristalina Georgieva cited a study indicating that AI will affect 60% of jobs in developed countries, whether through replacement, modification, or optimisation.

Globally, the figure stands at 40%.

Describing the situation as a "tsunami hitting the labour market," she warned that cognitive labour, traditionally viewed as a haven for the urban middle class, is no longer secure.

While companies may not terminate entire departments, the automation of 30% to 50% of workflows will likely lead to hiring freezes, reduced entry-level positions, or merged roles, making new graduates the first to feel the impact.

During the same forum, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde stressed the urgent need for international cooperation, noting that AI requires massive amounts of capital, energy, and data that countries cannot sustain in isolation.

The labour market is already beginning to reflect these disruptions.

According to the consulting firm Challenger, Grey & Christmas, nearly 55,000 job cuts in the US in 2025 were linked to AI implementation.

Amazon reduced its workforce by 15,000, and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff reported cutting thousands of customer service roles as AI proved capable of handling half of the workload.

A global Mercer survey of 12,000 workers revealed rising anxiety over job security, with many feeling that corporate leadership drastically underestimates the emotional and psychological toll on employees.

However, some experts caution against blaming AI entirely for recent layoffs.

Randstad CEO Sander van 't Noordende pointed out that broader economic uncertainties also play a significant role.

Additionally, while a Stanford University study noted a 16% decline in hiring for new graduate roles since the launch of ChatGPT in November 2022, a report from the Yale Budget Lab found that US occupational employment shares remained unchanged between 2022 and 2025.

Ultimately, the global economy is in a transitional phase where empirical evidence is still being gathered to match the high-level predictions.

While AI is undeniably a driver of economic growth, developers, policymakers, and business leaders concede that its long-term impacts on global inequality, governance, and the future of the labour market remain highly uncertain.