AI summit chaos sparks apology

What was meant to be India's grand coming-of-age moment in artificial intelligence instead transitioned instead into chaos.

- FPJ News Service

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, quickly ran into turbulence on its opening day, forcing Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to issue a public apology amid mounting complaints over crowd mismanagement, poor connectivity and basic logistical failures.

On Monday, the summit's opening day, thousands of startup founders, tech experts and foreign delegates thronged the venue, triggering chaos at the gates.

Long queues snaked across entry points as heavy crowds collided with stringent security checks, forcing representatives and delegates from global tech companies to wait for hours before gaining access.

By Tuesday morning, Vaishnaw struck a conciliatory note.

"This is the biggest AI summit in the entire world. The response is phenomenal. The energy is palpable. We can see the organisation is very smooth now. If anybody has faced any problems yesterday, we apologise for that," he said at a press conference in the summit venue Bharat Mandapam.