AI momentum is inseparable from semiconductor momentum: IESA

The India AI Impact Summit 2026 marks a defining moment in the convergence of AI, semiconductor strategy, and trusted global technology partnerships. With participation from over 20 Heads of State, 60 Ministers, 500 global AI leaders, and more than 300,000 attendees, the Summit firmly positions India at the center of the global AI transformation—especially for the Global South. 

The release of India’s AI Governance Guidelines, the expansion of the IndiaAI Fellowship to 13,500 scholars, and the strengthening of the IndiaAI Safety Institute demonstrate a comprehensive approach—policy, talent, and standards moving in alignment. 

On the infrastructure front, with 38,000 GPUs already operational and over 50,000 more being deployed in the coming months, India is rapidly scaling sovereign compute capacity. With supported fund and projections of over $200 billion in AI investments—primarily in infrastructure and RDI Scheme, ISM 2.0, and electronics  hardware policies -- India is building one of the world’s fastest-growing AI ecosystems.

But, history has repeatedly shown that the nations which shape transformative technologies are rarely the same as those who define the ethical and governance norms surrounding them. PM Narendra Modi's address at the summit today signals India's clear intent to occupy both roles simultaneously — as a builder and adopter of AI at scale, and as a principled voice for a governance architecture that serves humanity broadly, not selectively. 

Given where we stand in the AI adoption curve today, this is precisely the right argument, made at precisely the right time.

Honorable PM’s articulation of MANAV — grounding AI governance in moral integrity, accountable institutions, national data sovereignty, inclusive access, and legitimacy — offers the Global South its first coherent counter-narrative to the monopolistic architectures currently shaping AI development. 

Also, his nuclear analogy, invoked at the address, deserves a permanent place in every boardroom and policy chamber: humanity has already proven its capacity to harness and misuse transformative power in the same breath.

For the semiconductor and electronics industry, this overall momentum is transformative. AI leadership depends on secure supply chains for advanced chips, packaging, embedded systems, high-performance computing, and power electronics. India’s expanding fab, ATMP/OSAT, and electronics manufacturing programs—combined with its global leadership in chip design talent—position the country not just as a consumer of AI, but as a design-led innovation and advanced manufacturing hub ready for next-generation nodes, heterogeneous integration, and AI-optimized silicon.

The AI momentum is inseparable from semiconductor momentum. India is building the full innovation stack—design, compute, manufacturing, and deployment—anchored in trust, scale, and sustainability.

-- Ashok Chandak, President and CEO, IESA (India Electronics & Semiconductor Association).