Just weeks ago, India hosted the 2026 AI Impact Summit, the latest chapter in a global process that began in 2023 in the UK. For India, the stakes could not be higher: it’s 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 talk more about the summit and its key takeaways, Milan is joined on the show this week by Anirudh Suri.

Anirudh is a nonresident scholar with Carnegie India. His interests lie at the intersection of technology and 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’s the author of The Great Tech Game: Shaping Geopolitics and the Destinies of Nations, published in 2022. And he’s also the host of a podcast by the same name, “The Great Tech Game,” which focuses on technology, business and geopolitics.

Milan and Anirudh discuss the evolution of global AI summitry, the debate over India’s elusive “DeepSeek moment,” and the country’s indigenous large language models (LLMs). Plus, the two discuss the effects of AI on India’s services industry and India’s quest to marshal its domestic scientific talent.

Episode notes:

1. Anirudh Suri, “Learning from DeepSeek, honing India’s AI strategy,” Hindustan Times, March 2, 2025.

2. Anirudh Suri, “The Missing Pieces in India’s AI Puzzle: Talent, Data, and R&D,” Carnegie India, February 24, 2025.

3. Anirudh Suri, “Winning the AI race with research talent,” Hindustan Times, November 3, 2024.

4. “Governing India's Digital Revolution (with Rahul Matthan),” Grand Tamasha, January 23, 2024.

India’s AI Moment?