Widespread adoption of AI for the benefit of society is critical, say Nandan Nilekani and Dario Amodei

While developing advanced AI systems is essential, the greater challenge lies in driving widespread adoption and integrating the technology across society so that its benefits are shared more broadly, said Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

“I think it's great what the foundation models are doing and the speed of evolution. But what we have learned is that diffusion of technology is a different ballgame. And how do you get technology to a billion people?, Nilekani said at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi.

According to Nilekani, if AI investments are to create value for society at large rather than benefiting only a few individuals, there must be clear pathways to ensure the technology reaches everyone, adding that India is well placed to lead that effort.


“India should focus on becoming the use-case capital of the world,” the Infosys chairman added.

Nilekani said that AI is witnessing a race toward positive outcomes as well as a race toward harmful uses, cautioning that the latter is progressing more quickly than the former.

“I think all of us who have a stake in ensuring AI is useful to humanity need to accelerate and redouble our efforts to drive its diffusion. Otherwise, the consequences could be very difficult, as there is going to be a backlash,” Nilekani said. “If the only thing that AI does is create deepfakes or raise the price of your power bill, or all the other things that are happening, people are going to respond,” he added.

Amodei said countries in the Global South have a significant opportunity to use AI to accelerate catch-up growth and address structural challenges.

“I think AI is a technology that has big risks and big benefits, but in the Global South, the benefits may be even bigger than they are anywhere else,” he said.

On the risks associated with AI, Amodei said democracies must carefully consider how they govern the technology and respond to its use in authoritarian regimes. He also stressed the importance of ensuring AI systems are safe, predictable and remain under human control as they operate autonomously.

“I’ve been thinking about how we can work together with companies in India to drive this growth for everyone, ensuring that existing companies, both large and small, continue to prosper alongside us and other AI developers. We also need to consider how to ensure that the benefits reach everyone economically, in terms of health, and in other ways,” the Anthropic CEO added.

Amodei added that his company is keen to collaborate with large Indian enterprises, noting that they have deeper knowledge of the local market, stronger distribution capabilities and greater expertise in serving domestic businesses. “Can we plug our technology into what they do and create something that works for both sides? We would like to jointly succeed with companies in India,” he said.