Seattle: As India prepares to host the landmark India AI Impact Summit 2026 next year, a curtain-raiser event themed around its core pillars — People, Planet, and Progress — was held in Seattle on Friday. The event, hosted by the Consulate General of India in Seattle, featured discussions on AI applications in agriculture, digital infrastructure, and sustainable innovation.
The roundtable brought together leading tech CEOs from the Greater Seattle area, along with U.S. Congressmen Adam Smith and Michael Baumgartner, who were briefed on India’s growing AI ecosystem. Experts highlighted the “Seven Chakras” for global cooperation on safe and trusted AI — human capital, science, resilience, innovation and efficiency, inclusion and empowerment, democratising AI resources, and economic growth for social good.
“India AI Impact Summit 2026: Pre-Event Briefing Session hosted in Seattle! Grateful to US Reps. Adam Smith and Michael Baumgartner for joining the Pre-Summit Roundtable. Deeply appreciate insights from Tech and AI leaders highlighting India’s AI vision built on People, Planet, and Progress,” the Consulate posted on X.
The Seattle session, held at the new Chancery premises, marked the first in a series of global pre-summit events leading up to the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled for February 19–20 in New Delhi. Upcoming workshops will be organised at universities and with major AI industry players across the U.S. Pacific Northwest in early 2026.
According to the Consulate, the Delhi summit — the first major AI event of its scale hosted in the Global South — will unite governments, academia, industry, and startups from around the world to turn AI’s potential into real-world outcomes aligned with India’s “AI for All” vision.
Meanwhile, the Consulate General of India in New York announced three flagship initiatives to be launched in the lead-up to the summit:
- AI for ALL: Global Impact Challenge to spotlight transformative AI solutions driving measurable change.
- AI by HER: Challenge promoting women-led AI innovations for social impact.
- YUVAi: Global Youth Challenge for innovators aged 13–21 to foster AI-driven problem-solving for public good.
Last month, the New York Consulate hosted a pre-summit discussion titled “From Traction to Transaction: Bridging the Gap.” Speaking at the event, Consul General Binaya Pradhan emphasised the deepening India–U.S. technological and economic partnership, while former Union Minister Smriti Irani underlined India’s leadership in digital public infrastructure, startups, and women-led innovation — positioning the country as a natural partner for a human-centric, equitable AI future.
