‘When friends connect, innovation follows’: Macron shares AI-generated photo with Modi

French President Emmanuel Macron, who is currently on a three-day India visit, on Wednesday posted an AI-generated image of him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his participation at the India AI Impact Summit being held from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

“When friends connect, innovation follows. Ready for the AI Impact Summit! (sic),” Macron wrote in the caption of his post on X. A text on the image mentioned: “Yes, this is AI.”

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His post highlighting the India-France friendship came as Prime Minister Modi and world leaders invited to attend the India AI Impact Summit 2026 attended cultural displays at Bharat Mandapam.

Prime Minister Modi welcomed world leaders to the summit venue. Among the dignitaries received were Pedro Sanchez Perez-Castejon, President of Spain; Peter Pellegrini, President of the Slovak Republic; Olzhas Bektenov, Prime Minister of Kazakhstan; Petteri Orpo, Prime Minister of Finland; Anura Kumara Dissanayake, President of Sri Lanka; and Alar Karis, President of Estonia.

Earlier today, Macron said that India and France share the “same objective” on AI innovation and do not want to be “totally dependent” on US or Chinese models, highlighting the importance of strategic autonomy in the rapidly evolving AI landscape.

“I think it is important that this innovation becomes a very important part of our countries. I believe we share the same objective in India and France, and in Europe — that we do not want to be totally dependent on US or Chinese models. We believe we need our own balanced model, and we want to be part of the solution. We want our players to be part of the solution as well,” he said during an event in Delhi.

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He further stated that the AI summit is extremely important regarding all these issues.

“After the Action Summit one year ago, we continued the conversation to ensure that our countries benefit from innovation and to make sure that this innovation serves our common good and humanity,” he stated.

The French President further emphasised that affordable and low-carbon computing capacities are essential.

“We are making sure that we have data centres and computing capacities and that we train talent in our countries. It is clearly about three elements: computing capacity, talent, and capital,” he added.