India’s AI Wedding Buffet: Generous Portions, Political Economy Heartburn

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The AI Summit 2026 in New Delhi is structured like a good Indian wedding buffet, which is to say, it tries to be everything at once. There’s the main event, the side events, the offsite roundtables, and whatever happens in the hallways between them. The world’s largest gathering of AI stakeholders descends on New Delhi from February 16-20.I lead the Indian economy program at the Mercatus Center, which, by some logic I have yet to fully trace, means I am now an AI policy person. People whose calendars are normally defended by three layers of staff want to know what I think. While flattering and bewildering, the real reason is that understanding where India is in the AI race requires learning about non-AI related policy bottlenecks. Investors evaluating challenges and opportunities, ignore the broader political economy gridlock at your own peril.In the tradition of Indian policy ambition, this Substack will attempt to cover far more than is realistic, even as a long read. The TL;DR. India’s AI regulation (surprisingly light-touch and sensible), foundational models (promising but narrow), semiconductor ambitions (literally and metaphorically built on soft soil), energy constraints (a real political economy bottleneck), and startup ecosystem (world class talent), blossoming venture funding (burdened by tax uncertainty).But before that, a short primer on the Summit for those who have been living under a rock.The AI Summit 2026The label says AI impact, but the real centerpiece is commercial. India is courting AI businesses and unlocking massive investment, with virtually every ma…