India should build own AI models as country provides more data to ChatGPT, says Amitabh Kant

At the ongoing India AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi, Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog and India’s G20 Sherpa, highlighted India’s growing contribution to global AI systems and urged the country to develop its own artificial intelligence models using domestic data.

Kant said India is currently contributing more data to platforms like ChatGPT than the United States, a trend he said should translate into building indigenous models and inclusive AI infrastructure.

Speaking during a panel session titled “AI for India’s Next Billion: Intergenerational Insights for Inclusive and Future-Ready Growth,” Kant noted that data from the Global South and India in particular is helping refine large language models (LLMs), but that this contribution has not yet translated into direct benefits for the region.

“Today in India, if you look at OpenAI’s ChatGPT, we are providing more data — around 33% more data — than the United States,” he said.

Kant stressed that AI systems must be natively multilingual and designed to reflect the linguistic diversity of India and other developing nations.

He warned that English-centric AI models could exclude large sections of the population unless technology is developed to serve users across diverse languages and contexts.

He also cautioned that massive global AI investment flows could widen economic inequality if advanced systems and their benefits remain concentrated among a handful of corporations or countries.

Kant said that AI must be guided by principles of accessibility, affordability and accountability to ensure equitable growth in the Global South.

Drawing on India’s experience with Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) — the open, interoperable systems that helped accelerate progress in digital payments and other services — Kant suggested similar principles should underpin AI development.

He argued that building national AI models on local data and open APIs could allow private sector innovation to flourish while retaining strategic autonomy.

Kant’s remarks reflect broader concerns among Indian policymakers and technologists about data sovereignty and technological leadership.

As India increasingly participates in the global AI ecosystem, questions about who builds the core models, who owns data, and who benefits from AI advancements remain central to national strategy discussions.

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, which has drawn global attention and participation, serves as a key platform for these debates on AI governance, inclusive technology, and ensuring that digital transformation yields benefits for all segments of society.