Minister Vaishnaw apologises for AI summit Day 1 issues, promises smoother experience
NEW DELHI: Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday apologised for the issues faced by attendees on the opening day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, calling the turnout “phenomenal” and promising a smoother experience in the coming days.
The world’s largest artificial intelligence summit opened to packed halls and long queues on Monday. Huge crowds meant long queues and overcrowding, which was compounded by unclear and confused instructions. Mobile data connectivity, which was said to be erratic, also turned out to be a big problem.
Addressing criticism over overcrowding, Vaishnaw said more than 70,000 people attended the summit on Monday, highlighting the high interest in what is billed as one of the world’s largest AI gatherings.
“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, we apologise for that,” he said at a press conference in the summit venue Bharat Mandapam.
He said a war room is now operating to address any issues being faced. Any issues can be reported and the organisers will make sure that the summit is more smooth and enjoyable, he said.
“Whatever feedback you have, please share with us. We are open-minded. We will make efforts to make the experience smoother and enjoyable for all of you,” he said. “My entire team is working hard day and night for this summit.”
The opening day drew thousands of attendees, including startup founders, global tech representatives, and international delegates. However, heavy footfall led to confusion, long queues, overlapping security checks, and temporary evacuation of some exhibitor stalls ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the expo happening alongside.
Amid the confusion, a few reported misplaced or stolen goods. Dhananjay Yadav, CEO of Neo Sapien, took to X to complain about wearables being stolen.
“At 12 noon, security personnel arrived to sanitise and cordon off the area ahead of the PM Modi visit at 2pm,” he wrote. “I explained that we’re building India’s first patented AI wearable at NeoSapien and requested a chance to showcase it.”
One officer told others to let him stay but then another group came and ordered him and his team to leave immediately.
“I asked: “Should we take our wearables?” They said, others are leaving even laptops behind, security will take care. Trusting them, I left. Hoping that the wearables will be safe, and If I am lucky, it might catch the eye of PM Modi,” he said adding the gates were closed from 12-6 pm on Monday.
Later, he and his team found that “wearables were stolen”. “Think about this: We paid for flights, accommodation, logistics and even the booth. Only to see our wearables disappear inside a high-security zone. If only security and official entourage had access, how did this happen? This is extremely disappointing,” he wrote.Punit Jain, founder of Reskill, said, “An AI Summit that sidelines its own builders?”
“Exhibitors, delegates, startup founders (were) left outside. No water. No clarity. Media shows celebration. Ground reality was chaos. If access was limited to select high-value guests, just say it upfront. Don’t mobilize the ecosystem and then displace them. This is not how we build India’s AI future,” he wrote on Monday.
However, on Tuesday, he said, “Day 1 at the AI Summit had some operational challenges, but coordination and access management improved significantly thereafter. Large-scale, high-security events are complex - what matters is responsiveness and execution.”
Entrepreneur Priyanshu Ratnakar said the summit highlighted “optics over execution”, pointing to long queues, exhibitors being locked out of stalls, patchy Wi-Fi and mobile networks, and repeated registration glitches. Organisers said corrective measures were taken throughout the day to ease congestion and improve coordination, assuring attendees that operations would be smoother over the remaining days, with continued participation from Big Tech companies and international leaders.
Meanwhile, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged that the chaos and mismanagement at the ongoing AI Impact Summit here is giving the country global embarrassment due to the incompetence of the government.
He also said the Summit could have been used for showcasing India’s digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities instead.
“What could have been a showpiece AI Summit for the entire world, demonstrating the digital and AI capabilities of India, has reportedly turned into utter chaos and rank mismanagement by this ‘PR hungry’ government!” Kharge said in a post on X on Tuesday.
He alleged that founders, exhibitors and visitors had to face extreme distress due to the prime minister “gatecrashing” for a “photo opportunity” on the very first day (Monday) of the five-day Summit.“Exhibitors are left without food and water, their products are stolen, Digi Yatra miserably fails, laptops, personal electronic devices and even bags are prohibited, only cash instead of digital/UPI payment is accepted, and founders are made to pay huge sums without basic facilities, among many other reasons of distress,” the Congress chief claimed.
Perhaps, the Modi government should learn from the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS), which is an annual feature, in smoothly organising such large-scale digital and tech congregations, the Congress president suggested.
In a post on its X handle, the Congress said, “Absolute mayhem. Horrifying chaos. Zero civic sense. The India AI Summit, an event meant to showcase India’s AI ambitions to the world, soon turned into a chaotic, poorly managed photo op for PM Modi.”
“Adding insult to injury, the AI event saw multiple demonstrations fail due to unstable internet, while laptops and cameras were banned. At a tech event, no less. Even the food stalls refused to accept digital payments, preferring to deal only in cash,” the Congress claimed.
“When incompetence becomes normalised, embarrassment becomes the norm. Shameful!” the opposition party added.
India is hosting the AI Impact Summit at the Bharat Mandapam along with the India AI Impact Expo 2026 from February 16-20.
