India AI Impact Summit 2026: Modi, Macron Sound Alarm on Human Safety Amid AI Boom

New Delhi — The fourth and most high-profile day of India’s AI Impact Summit 2026 drew global attention at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron delivered powerful calls for human-centric AI governance, with a particular focus on child safety.
PM Modi warned that AI must be developed in a way that humans do not become mere data points. He unveiled India’s MANAV framework for AI governance — an acronym standing for Moral and ethical systems, Accountable governance, National sovereignty, Accessible and inclusive, and Valid and legitimate. Modi stressed that “AI technology will only be beneficial when it is shared and its core systems are open,” enabling millions of young minds to improve and safeguard it.
President Macron declared that Europe is “not blindly focused on regulation” but aims to be a safe space for innovation that simultaneously protects children from digital abuse.  (Axios) Directly addressing Modi, Macron urged India to consider banning social media for children, saying “protecting children is not regulation — it is civilisation.” 
Anthropic’s CEO warned at the summit that machines outperforming humans may be only years away, describing a near future with AI agents more capable than most humans, coordinating at superhuman speed.UN Secretary-General António Guterres cautioned against leaving AI’s future to the whims of a handful of billionaires, calling for open and equitable access.
The summit was dealt a blow by the last-minute withdrawal of Bill Gates — amid renewed scrutiny over his ties to Jeffrey Epstein — and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, both of whom cancelled their appearances. 
The five-day summit, the first of its kind held in the Global South, wraps up on Friday with India positioning itself as a bridge between advanced economies and developing nations in the global AI race.