Sundar Pichai meets PM Narendra Modi in France, discusses ‘India’s digital transformation’

At the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris, Sundar Pichai, Google’s CEO of Indian descent, talked with Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the “amazing possibilities” AI can offer to India.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Sunday Pichai shared a glimpse of his meeting with Modi with the caption, “Delighted to meet with PM @narendramodi today while in Paris for the AI Action Summit. We discussed the incredible opportunities AI will bring to India and ways we can work closely together on India’s digital transformation.”

The meeting occurs as PM Narendra Modi arrived in France on Tuesday to co-chair the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit with French President Emmanuel Macron. He spoke at the summit and advocated for a worldwide structure for AI. He also mentioned that only joint global initiatives can establish governance and standards for AI that tackle risks, foster trust, and encourage innovation at the same time.

He also said that there’s a need to “skill and re-skill” people to make them ready for an AI-driven future. “Loss of jobs is AI’s most feared disruption, but history has shown that work does not disappear due to technology, only its nature changes. We need to invest in skilling and re-skilling our people for an AI-driven future,” he said.

Emphasizing that it is humans who will hold the key to their collective future despite AI advancements, Modi said, “We are at the dawn of the AI age that will shape the course of humanity. Some people worry about machines becoming superior in intelligence to humans. But no one holds the key to our collective future and shared destiny other than us humans.”

US’ newly-elected Vice President JD Vance, who was in attendance at the summit agreed with this notion. “AI, I really believe, will facilitate and make people more productive. It is not going to replace human beings, it will never replace human beings,” he said.