"Still Working On That, Dad": Sundar Pichai On Driverless Cabs On Indian Roads

Google CEO Sundar Pichai on Thursday said that he is "struck by the pace of change" in India and praised the country's growing role in the global AI ecosystem.

Addressing the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in attendance, Pichai, a native of Tamil Nadu's Chennai, recalled his college days in southern India.

"Prime Minister Modi and distinguished leaders, it's wonderful to be back in India. Every time I visit, I'm struck by the pace of change, and today is no different. Back when I was a student, I often took the Coromandel Express train from Chennai up to IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Kharagpur. To get there, we passed through Visakhapatnam. I remember it being a quiet and modest coastal city brimming with potential. Now in that same city, Google is establishing a full-stack AI hub, part of our $15 billion infrastructure investment in India," he said.

Pichai said sitting on that train, he never imagined Vizag (Visakhapatnam) becoming a global AI hub.

"Just as I could not have imagined that one day I would be spending time with teams figuring out how to put data centres into space or taking my parents for a fully autonomous car ride in San Francisco," Pichai said.

He also recalled how his father, Regunatha Pichai, said that he would be "more impressed" if driverless cars worked on India's busy roads.

"Still working on that, Dad," said Pichai, who also heads Google parent Alphabet, which makes Waymo driverless taxis.

VIDEO | AI Impact Summit: Google CEO Sundar Pichai says, “Seeing a Waymo through his 83-year-old father's eyes highlighted the progress made in technology. AI represents the biggest platform shift of our lifetimes, offering the potential for rapid progress and breakthroughs,… pic.twitter.com/PH9tZMUm4n

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) February 19, 2026

He praised the Indian government for sending AI-powered forecasts to millions of farmers last summer. He said it was possible in part because of their NeuralGCM model.

He also said that they are building a vast network of subsea fibre optic cables, including four new systems between the US and India as part of their America-India Connect initiative announced yesterday.

"AI will undeniably reshape the workforce, automating some roles, evolving others, and creating entirely new careers. 20 years ago, the concept of a professional YouTube creator didn't exist. Today, there are millions around the world," he said.