The India AI Impact Summit 2026, which was inaugurated by the prime minister and has brought together technology entities, politicians and businesses, among others, signifies two important global developments. But a public good need not be an egalitarian resource: the tools that power AI, from data to computational infrastructure, are not evenly distributed across nations. Moreover, India faces stiff challenges in the form of data quality, safety and interoperability: these could be subsequent restraints holding the country back in the global AI race. India, where data are inexpensive but data literacy seemingly expendable, has a lot of ground to cover in this respect too. The AI Summit should be a platform for the world to deliberate on AI’s revolutionary potential but also the technology’s regulatory needs.