Apple, Perplexity, xAI: Big Tech missing from AI Impact Summit 2026

Last week, India was all about AI. The AI Impact Summit 2026 in New Delhi was meant to mark India’s coming of age as a global hub for artificial intelligence, a moment to showcase its ambitions, talent, and digital infrastructure.

Over these packed days, the event drew more than 20 heads of state, 500 global AI leaders, and delegations from over 100 countries, including top executives from Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Anthropic, and NVIDIA.

And yet, what caught many by surprise wasn’t who was on stage, but who wasn’t.

NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang , the man at the centre of the AI hardware revolution, skipped the event, sending senior executives instead.

Bill Gates , despite Microsoft’s major investment commitments in India’s digital infrastructure, also didn’t attend. Their absence raised eyebrows, but perhaps more striking were the missing presences of Apple, Perplexity AI, and Elon Musk’s xAI, each representing a unique voice in today’s AI landscape.

Perplexity’s curious absence

If there was one India-origin name many expected to see at the summit, it was Aravind Srinivas, CEO of Perplexity AI. The IIT Madras alumnus has become one of the most recognised Indian-origin figures in global AI. His platform, which merges search and conversational AI, has been praised for its speed and factual accuracy.

Yet Srinivas was nowhere to be seen at Bharat Mandapam. For an event that leaned heavily on high-profile personalities, with Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman, and Dario Amodei sharing the stage, Perplexity’s no-show felt like a missed opportunity.

The company did not issue any official statement explaining the absence. Firstpost also reached out for a comment, but did not receive any response.

Apple’s deliberate distance

Another most notable absentee was Apple. With Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Anthropic all sending top executives, the lack of Apple representation stood out.

But we have a take. In the recent report , CEO Tim Cook made it clear that unlike the rest of the world, Apple is not chasing the AI model game. It is more interested in putting AI to work in the real life. For instance, Apple has plans to launch AI-powered devices.

Its upcoming software suite, Apple Intelligence, layers AI features such as text rewriting, image generation, and ChatGPT integration directly into the iPhone and Mac ecosystem.

We think, this approach explains why the company doesn’t feel the need to attend high-profile AI conferences. Its absence wasn’t an oversight, it was intentional, perhaps even symbolic.

xAI and the Musk-shaped gap

And then there was Elon Musk, or rather, his absence. Musk’s participation could have electrified the summit. As the founder of xAI, Tesla, SpaceX, and Neuralink, his views on AI risks, autonomy, and real-world deployment carry enormous influence.

India’s theme of “People, Planet, and Progress” would have been the perfect stage for Musk’s perspective on balancing AI innovation with ethical responsibility. Yet, once again, he was a no-show.

But, truth to be told, he has his plate full . Musk is currently juggling Tesla’s autonomy push, SpaceX’s next Starship flight, Neuralink’s human trials, and xAI’s rapid scaling of its chatbot Grok.

Add to that his ownership of X (formerly Twitter), and it’s clear his calendar isn’t forgiving. Past India visits have been postponed under similar heavy obligations.

Still, his absence was a missed opportunity for dialogue. Musk’s insights on AI access for emerging markets, EV integration with smart grids, and AI’s impact on jobs would have added depth to India’s global AI narrative. Given India’s rising talent pool and its ambitions in autonomous systems and semiconductors, Musk’s engagement could have sparked valuable collaborations.