Stage whispers: The un-headlined record of the India AI Impact Summit 2026
India Today
What the cameras didn't zoom into, but history might. Key lines from global AI leaders that may shape policy, power and professions.
Powered by an all-star gathering of global figures in Artificial Intelligence (AI), the India AI Impact Summit 2026 generated global headlines across continents. But when technologists, futurists and policymakers take centre stage at a government forum, the most consequential signals are often not found in the headline-grabbing declarations.
Sometimes, it is a stray phrase. A carefully worded caveat. A speculative remark. A line that sounds philosophical but carries policy tremors within it.
An India Today team went through multiple keynote sessions and panel discussions to identify five such consequential words, phrases and lines, remarks that may carry more long-term weight and nuance than many of the summit’s dominant headlines.
Considered one of the most influential AI leaders today, the CEO of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, introduced a phrase during his keynote that may prove more consequential than any technical roadmap discussed at the summit.
Laying out the potential fallout of the AI-driven technological shift, Altman said: “we don’t know how to think about when or whether countries are going to have to think about new forms of social contract”.
To even contemplate rethinking the foundational theory of the social contract — the implicit philosophical agreement in which citizens surrender certain rights in exchange for governance, order and security — marked a striking moment.
Assistant Professor Shivaraj Kumar was on invigilation duty when he was attacked by a student named Shahbaz after the former seized his answer sheet and asked him to leave the hall.
25-year-old Deepak Dhurve has confessed to killing his parents, younger brother and the family's pet cat in Betul district, but has not explained the motive behind the attack.
A special court granted bail to businessman Raj Kundra, directing him to furnish a Rs 1 lakh surety and seek prior court permission before travelling abroad in the ongoing Rs 150-crore Bitcoin scam case.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah sharply criticised Congress for border security lapses in Assam, highlighting BJP's efforts to curb infiltration and boost development.
Snehamayi Krishna was the key complainant in the Muda land allotment controversy, alleging irregularities in residential site allocations involving Siddaramaiah, his wife Parvathi B M, and associates.
Supreme Court orders serving, ex-Calcutta High Court judicial officers to oversee Bengal SIR claims-objections
The blaze erupted while 90 students were attending classes in the coaching centre. Within minutes, thick smoke engulfed corridors and classrooms, leaving students in panic and struggling to escape.
The accused learned that his sister, who had married against the family's wishes, had come to the village for a wedding and allegedly attacked her with an axe in full public view.