AI Impact Summit: India sets Guinness World Record with over 250,000 AI responsibility pledges in 24 hours

India has officially entered the Guinness World Records for the Most pledges received for an AI responsibility campaign in 24 hours, securing 250,946 valid pledges nationwide between February 16 and 17, 2026, according to Union Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw. The record-setting achievement was announced at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, held at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, and far exceeded the initial target of 5,000 pledges.

Officials said the campaign reflects growing public engagement and awareness around the responsible adoption of artificial intelligence, marking a new milestone in citizen-led digital responsibility efforts in India.

The AI Responsibility Pledge campaign was part of the IndiaAI Mission and was conducted in partnership with Intel India. Launched on February 16, the initiative encouraged citizens across the country to commit to the ethical, inclusive, and responsible use of artificial intelligence by submitting pledges through the aipledge.indiaai.gov.in portal. The large-scale mobilisation—spanning students, faculty members, and the broader public — underscored India’s intent to promote responsible AI practices and strengthen public trust in emerging technologies.

During the summit, the record was officially validated by Pravin Patel, adjudicator from Guinness World Records, in the presence of senior officials, including S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology; Abhishek Singh, Additional Secretary, MeitY, CEO, IndiaAI Mission and Director General, NIC; Kavita Bhatia, COO, IndiaAI; and Srinivasan Iyengar, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Central Engineering Group, Intel. The high-profile verification highlighted the government’s collaborative approach with industry leaders.

The campaign required participants to reflect on core principles such as data privacy, accountability, transparency, and combating misinformation by responding to scenario-based questions. Upon completion, participants received digital badges and access to AI learning pathways, reinforcing the government’s commitment to building a trustworthy and human-centric AI ecosystem.

Addressing the media, Vaishnaw credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for engaging India’s youth in the ethical and responsible use of artificial intelligence. “It is his vision that inspired us to reach out to colleges, engage with faculty members, and encourage students to take this pledge to use AI as a tool for the good of society — as a technology that improves our lives—and to ensure it is used responsibly,” he said. “A special round of applause to the 250,000 students who have taken this pledge. This is truly a proud day for the country.”

India’s AI push

The first two days of the summit have underscored the scale and direction of India’s AI push. The government outlined $200 billion in infrastructure commitments, $17 billion in venture capital funding, and plans to add more than 20,000 GPUs to the existing base of 38,000. The preview of AI Mission 2.0, alongside the milestone of achieving 51% clean energy in power generation, pointed to a policy framework aligning AI expansion with energy security.

Corporate announcements further reinforced the momentum. The Adani Group committed $100 billion towards renewable-powered data centres by 2035, targeting a capacity of 5 GW, with Google and Microsoft partnerships already operational. This is expected to catalyse an additional $150 billion in adjacent areas such as server manufacturing and sovereign cloud infrastructure. In the IT services space, Infosys confirmed its partnership with Anthropic to deploy Claude for enterprise solutions, starting with the telecom sector, and disclosed that AI now contributes 5.5% of its total revenue.

Public engagement has remained strong, with more than 300,000 registrations and fully occupied sessions. Product demonstrations—from on-device smart glasses to agentic commerce and offline multilingual models—highlighted the shift from pilot projects to real-world deployment.

What’s next: Thursday marks the main event, featuring a joint session by Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron. Speakers include Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Demis Hassabis, and Mukesh Ambani, with a Leaders’ Declaration expected.