Google CEO Pichai defends AI spending, announces India investments at summit

Google CEO Sundar Pichai pushed back on AI bubble fears at India's AI Impact Summit, saying the current buildout is moving "10 times faster" than prior industrial revolutions and that returns are already materializing through surging cloud demand. Alphabet plans $175B-$185B in capex for 2026. Pichai announced new US-India fiber-optic routes, a $30M AI for Science Impact Challenge, and a DeepMind partnership with the Indian government for frontier model access. He called India "a full-stack player in AI" and a co-builder of what comes next.

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