India’s tech ecosystem made a splash at the AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi by showcasing several homegrown artificial intelligence (AI) models developed by local startups and research initiatives — a bid to spark what some are calling a “DeepSeek moment” similar to the breakthrough China achieved with its high-performance, low-cost AI assistant last year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted three new Indian models and praised the “power of ‘Made in India’” innovations, with companies such as Sarvam AI unveiling large language models trained from scratch using government-subsidised compute resources.
One of the Indian models that drew significant attention is Sarvam AI’s multilingual large language models optimised to work across 22 Indian languages, reflecting India’s linguistic diversity and focus on localised AI applications. Bengaluru-based Gnani.ai also introduced its Vachana speech models, trained on over a million hours of audio to generate natural-sounding voices for interactive digital services. Meanwhile, the government-supported BharatGen initiative rolled out a new multilingual AI model, signalling a coordinated push to build sovereign AI tools tailored to domestic needs.
Despite the excitement, analysts caution that a true “DeepSeek moment” — a rapid global breakthrough with wide-ranging impact — may still be some way off. India’s focus remains on scaling AI adoption and embedding models into public infrastructure rather than immediately rivaling the computational firepower and research intensity of U.S. or Chinese AI leaders. Experts argue that India’s realistic path is to become the world’s largest AI adoption market, leveraging cost-efficient applications and digital public utilities rather than emerging as the next frontier of foundational AI innovation right away.
Proponents, however, see value beyond technical benchmarks: locally developed models could reduce reliance on Western or Chinese technologies, respect data sovereignty, and better reflect cultural context — helping ensure AI systems are relevant and accessible for India’s population. While the country may not immediately rival models like DeepSeek on global benchmarks, its emphasis on multilingual, inclusive, and cost-efficient AI could deliver significant benefits domestically and in other emerging markets.
