Meta’s Chief AI Officer Alexander Wang says India’s AI momentum is ‘undeniable’ at Impact Summit

India’s growing role in artificial intelligence took centre stage at the India AI Impact Summit, where Alexander Wang, Chief AI Officer at Meta, said his first visit to the country left a strong impression.

“I had an amazing first time in India, and the momentum of the country is undeniable,” Wang said, highlighting India’s scale and strategic importance in Meta’s global AI plans.

India central to Meta’s AI strategy

Wang noted that more than 3.5 billion people use at least one Meta app every day. Of these, over 500 million users are in India alone. This makes India one of Meta’s largest markets globally.

He said AI systems must serve local needs and should not be shaped only by Silicon Valley priorities. India’s scale, talent base and digital infrastructure make it a key market for AI development.

Meta’s platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp already use AI tools in India. These include automatic translation of Instagram Reels into regional languages and AI-powered WhatsApp Business agents that help small businesses respond to customers within minutes.

AI in healthcare, accessibility and languages

Wang said AI tools are being used in India across sectors such as healthcare and accessibility.

With more than 20 million people with disabilities in India, voice-first AI systems are helping convert textbooks into accessible formats. AI is also being used to provide personalised career guidance.

In healthcare, AI models are supporting tumour detection and medical image analysis. According to Wang, tasks that previously took hours of manual review can now be completed in seconds using AI systems.

India’s linguistic diversity is another focus area. Meta has open-sourced speech recognition models that can recognise over 1,600 languages. The company is also working with the Indian government’s AI Kosh platform to provide datasets in 10 major Indian languages.

Wang said real-time voice-to-voice translation, especially through wearable devices, could be transformative in a country with dozens of widely spoken languages.

What is ‘personal superintelligence’?

Wang also outlined Meta’s long-term ambition to build what he called “personal superintelligence”.

Unlike standard chatbots, he said these AI systems would understand an individual’s goals, preferences and daily context. They could help users manage health routines, organise schedules, track projects and reduce administrative tasks.

“It won’t just do your admin. It will be an extension of you,” Wang said.

Meta plans to release new AI models in the coming months, with deeper integration across its platforms.

Governance, talent and infrastructure

Addressing concerns around Big Tech dominance and data safety, Wang said trust is critical for AI adoption.

“People won’t trust us with deeply personal AI unless we build it safely and securely,” he said. He referred to Meta’s use of model cards, risk assessments, red teaming and evaluation benchmarks as part of responsible AI development.

Wang identified four key building blocks for AI leadership: talent, energy, data and compute capacity. He said governments and private companies must work together to ensure access to these inputs while avoiding fragmented regulations.

India, he said, has strong engineering talent, a large user base and expanding digital public infrastructure. With proper investment in compute capacity and energy systems, the country could become a major AI innovation hub.

India’s opportunity in global AI debates

India has positioned itself as a voice for the Global South in technology governance. Wang suggested that India can shape AI systems around local priorities such as public service delivery, agriculture, healthcare and small businesses.

He called the current moment historic and urged stronger public-private collaboration to ensure AI benefits are widely shared.

As AI adoption grows, India’s scale and diversity may play a defining role in shaping how the technology evolves globally.