Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday inaugurated the AI Impact Expo, welcoming global leaders, innovators, experts, technology enthusiasts and policymakers from around the world to discuss artificial intelligence.
The event, however, was marred by complaints about mismanagement, poor crowd control, organisational lapses and poor signage.
Modi welcomed global leaders for the expo and summit in an ‘X’ post, saying, “Bringing the world together to discuss AI!. Starting today, India hosts the AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam in Delhi.”
Key speakers include Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis.
Over 20 heads of state, 60 ministers and vice-ministers and 500 global AI leaders, comprising CEOs, founders, academicians and researchers, are also attending the events.
However, many attendees took to social media to air grievances about inconveniences they faced on Day 1 of the expo. The first day of the event required restricted entry because the Prime Minister was scheduled to inaugurate it in the evening. Attendees were evacuated in the afternoon, confusing many.
One X user said, “An AI Summit that sidelines its own builders? 7 am queues. 9 am entry. 12 pm full evacuation. Hours of sanitisation. PM visit at 5 pm. Day 1 ends here. Meanwhile, exhibitors, delegates and start-up founders were left outside. No water. No clarity.”
People were also forced to pay in cash at the food court because card and UPI payments were not accepted — the irony of this occurring at an AI event was not lost on most.