TL;DR
India’s AI Impact Summit in Delhi, which aims to bring more than 100 countries together around practical AI applications, was overshadowed by logistical failures on its opening day. Delegates reported hours-long queues, overcrowding, stolen exhibit products, and food stalls that only accepted cash — prompting an apology from India’s IT minister.
What happened
The five-day summit, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is being promoted as the first major international AI meeting hosted in the global south, with leaders from OpenAI, Alphabet, and other major firms expected to attend.
But by Monday afternoon, social media was flooded with complaints. Exhibitors reported being locked out of their own booths during security sweeps. Several speakers were still awaiting confirmation of their session timings, according to Reuters.
Dhananjay Yadav, founder of wearable AI startup NeoSapiens, said products were stolen from his company’s stall inside the “high-security zone.” Delegates reported sessions being shut down due to overcrowding, and food stalls that accepted only cash — a particular problem for international visitors at a technology summit.
Soumya Sharma, founder of healthcare-focused Livo AI, said operational lapses risked overshadowing the event’s substance. “Unless we get the basics right, we cannot claim to be utilising AI to its fullest,” he wrote. “AI is only part of the system.”
Government response
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw apologised to exhibitors on Tuesday and said a “war room” had been set up to address reported issues. About 70,000 people attended on the first day, and Vaishnaw acknowledged the organisation was “very slow.”
Looking forward
The chaotic opening raises questions about execution at large-scale AI summits, even as governments invest heavily in hosting them. The contrast between the summit’s ambitious diplomatic goals — including India’s push for a “Delhi Declaration” on AI — and the basic operational failures on the ground will be a cautionary reference point for future events, including any UK-hosted follow-ups to the Bletchley Park AI Safety Summit.