‘AI biggest platform shift of our lifetimes, India’s Vizag emerging as global AI hub’: Google CEO Pichai

NEW DELHI: On Day-4 of the India AI Impact Summit in the national capital it was time for tech’s biggest voices to speak about AI as a technology and the central role of India in the diffusion and deployment of this technology. Google CEO Sundar Pichai adressed the summit saying that artificial intelligence shows that nothing is impossible when humanity dreams big, and it represents the biggest platform shift of our lifetimes. Pichai highlighted India’s growing role in the global AI ecosystem and the emergence of Visakhapatnam as a global AI hub.

Addressing the AI-India Impact Summit, Pichai said it is remarkable to see Visakhapatnam, where Google has made a major investment, transform into a major centre for artificial intelligence as part of Google’s long-term investment in India.

CEO of Google and Alphabet, Sundar Pichai says :

“Every time I visit, I’m struck by the pace of change, and today is no different”

The future is here pic.twitter.com/qYtW0eQg1f

— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) February 19, 2026

“I remember Visakhapatnam, Vizag, being a quiet and modest coastal city brimming with potential. Now in that same city, Google is establishing a full-stack AI hub, part of our $15 billion infrastructure investment in India. When finished, this hub will house gigawatt-scale compute and a new international subsea cable gateway, bringing jobs and cutting-edge AI to people and businesses across India. Sitting on the train, I never imagined Vizag becoming a global AI hub”, he said.

Pichai emphasised that AI represents a transformative shift in technology with the potential to accelerate progress across sectors and help emerging economies advance faster.

“The product shows what’s possible when humanity dreams big, and no technology has me dreaming bigger than AI. It is the biggest platform shift of our lifetimes. We are on the cusp of hyper-progress and new discoveries that can help emerging economies leapfrog legacy gaps. But that outcome is neither guaranteed nor automatic.” he said.

Explaining the reasons for optimism around AI, Pichai pointed to its role in advancing scientific discovery and improving lives globally.

“Because AI can improve billions of lives and solve some of the hardest problems in science. For 50 years, predicting protein structures was a grand challenge and a blind spot that stalled drug discovery. Demis Hassabis and his team at Google DeepMind asked an audacious question: how could we use AI to solve this? That question led to AlphaFold,” he said.

He added that the breakthrough, which won a Nobel Prize, compressed decades of research into an open database accessible worldwide.

“This breakthrough, that just win a Nobel Prize, it compressed decades of research into a database that is now open to the world. Today, over 3 million researchers in more than 190 countries are using it to develop malaria vaccines, fight antibiotic resistance, and much more,” he noted.

Pichai further said that AI is being used across the scientific ecosystem, from cataloging DNA disease markers to building AI agents that can act as partners in scientific research.

“And we are asking similarly bold questions across the scientific stack, from cataloging DNA disease markers to building AI agents that act as true partners in the scientific method. We must be equally bold in tackling problems in regions that have lacked access to technology,” he added.

He stressed that AI has the potential to drive innovation, create opportunities, and help address global challenges, while underscoring the need for responsible and inclusive development to ensure its benefits reach everyone. (ANI)