New Delhi: A report released ahead of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, scheduled to be held in New Delhi, has raised concerns about the country’s approach to AI governance.Titled India AI Impact Summit 2026: AI Governance at the Edge of Democratic Backsliding, the report, published by the Center for the Study of Organized Hate (CSOH) and the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) notes the gap between India’s stated commitment to inclusive and democratic AI and the reported use of AI systems in ways that affect minority and marginalised communities.Highlighting the role of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in using such material, the report noted several instances where the BJP used AI-generated videos and images to spread communal narratives and target opposition leaders. “Just a week before the India AI Impact Summit, BJP’s Assam unit uploaded an AI-generated video on its official X account, depicting the Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sarma, shooting at two visibly Muslim men with the title “No Mercy.”115 One of the individuals in the framed picture appeared to be a morphed photo of the opposition leader, Gaurav Gogoi, wearing a skullcap. The video has now been deleted after widespread criticism,” the report said.Beyond online content, the report states that law enforcement agencies in several states are using facial recognition systems, predictive policing software and other AI-based surveillance tools. It said that these deployments lack independent oversight, judicial approval and transparency.Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced the development of an AI system in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay to identify alleged Bangladeshi immigrants and Rohingya refugees through analysis of speech patterns and language use. Experts cited in the report warn that such technology could be used to target Bengali-speaking Muslim communities and low-income migrant workers from Assam and West Bengal. The report refers to accounts of Bengali-speaking Muslim citizens being deported to Bangladesh without due process on suspicion of being undocumented migrants.The document also reviewed India’s AI Governance Guidelines issued in November 2025. It noted that the framework relies on voluntary compliance rather than binding rules and that it prioritizes innovation over precaution. While the guidelines refer to protecting vulnerable groups, the report says they do not address specific risks faced by religious minorities, Dalit, Bahujan, Adivasi communities, and sexual and gender minorities. It added that affected communities are expected to challenge harmful AI systems without mandatory transparency requirements that would enable such challenges.The AI Impact Summit 2026 is officially centered on “Democratizing AI and Bridging the AI Divide” through the themes of “People, Planet and Progress.” The report urged the leaders attending the summit to adopt enforceable regulations across the AI lifecycle, ban the use of AI for mass surveillance and predictive policing, require independent oversight of public-sector AI systems, and include affected communities in governance discussions. They also called for moving beyond voluntary commitments by technology companies toward stronger regulatory measures.