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Amitabh Kant: AI Must Be Public Infrastructure for Mass Inclusion

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant has called for artificial intelligence to be designed and governed as public infrastructure, ensuring it is accessible and affordable. He stressed that AI must work for low-income users, people in low-bandwidth areas, non-English speakers, women, farmers, and frontline workers to be considered fit for purpose. Kant cited India's successful digital public infrastructure as a model for how technology can transform lives when designed for scale and inclusion. He believes treating AI as public infrastructure can make it the most powerful inclusion tool of this generation, preventing the benefits from being limited to a few.

Key Points: AI as Public Infrastructure: Amitabh Kant's Vision for India

  • AI must be accessible & affordable for all
  • Must serve non-English speakers & rural users
  • Should be governed with trust at scale
  • Can be a powerful tool for inclusion
2 min read

AI must be designed as public infrastructure, accessible to all: Amitabh Kant

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant advocates for AI to be designed as accessible, affordable public infrastructure to benefit all Indians.

"AI must be designed and governed as public infrastructure - accessible, affordable, multilingual, and accountable - Amitabh Kant"

New Delhi, Feb 17

Former NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant on Tuesday stressed that artificial intelligence must be designed and governed as public infrastructure, just like India's digital public infrastructure, so that its benefits reach every section of society.

Speaking at the "AI for the Next Billion" session organised by CEEW India during the India AI Impact Summit 2026 here, Kant said AI should be accessible, affordable, multilingual and accountable.

He underlined that technology can only be considered meaningful if it works for low-income users, people in low-bandwidth areas, non-English speakers, women, farmers, MSMEs and frontline workers.

Kant said that if AI fails to serve these groups, it is not fit for purpose.

"AI must be designed and governed as public infrastructure - accessible, affordable, multilingual, and accountable - much like India's Digital Public Infrastructure," Kant said.

"If AI does not work for low-income users, low bandwidth environments, non-English speakers, women, farmers, MSMEs, and frontline workers, then it is not fit for purpose," he added.

He explained that India's experience with digital public infrastructure shows how technology, when designed for scale and inclusion, can transform lives and expand opportunities.

Kant further said that when AI is treated as public infrastructure, governed with trust and deployed at a population scale, it has the potential to become one of the most powerful tools for inclusion in this generation.

"Such an approach can help ensure that the AI revolution does not remain limited to a few, but instead benefits millions across the country," Kant added.

He added that India has a unique opportunity to lead by example by building AI systems that are people-centric and inclusive, setting a global benchmark for how emerging technologies should be developed and governed.

"If designed as public infrastructure, governed with trust, and deployed at population scale, AI can become the most powerful inclusion tool of our generation," Kant mentioned.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

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Sarah B
As someone working in tech, I appreciate the focus on low-bandwidth environments. So many AI tools require high-speed internet, which excludes rural India. Making it accessible and multilingual is key for real impact.
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Priya S
The point about women and frontline workers is crucial. Often, new tech is designed by and for urban men. If AI can help anganwadi workers or ASHA didis with better data, it would be revolutionary. Hope this vision becomes reality!
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Rohit P
Good thought, but execution is everything. We've seen how digital divides persist even with UPI in some remote areas. The government must ensure actual ground-level implementation, not just lofty statements. Accountability is the keyword.
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Karthik V
Multilingual AI is the need of the hour. My parents struggle with English-only interfaces. If AI assistants can understand and respond in Tamil or Hindi, it would bridge a huge gap for the next billion users. Jai Hind!
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Michael C
This is a powerful global benchmark. If India can pull this off—building inclusive, public AI infrastructure—it could show the world a better path than the purely corporate-driven model in the West. The focus on "trust" is especially important.

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