The India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam promised neural networks, sovereign compute power and ethical algorithms. It delivered all of that.
It also delivered long queues, a patriotic robot with a passport problem, and a group photo that looked like the proliferation of a corporate war.
Here are ten moments that ensured the summit will be remembered not just for AI.
Robodog that crossed a border
At a stall by Galgotias University, a robotic dog was showcased as “Made in India.” It would have been a perfect metaphor for domestic innovation if the internet hadn’t identified it as a Unitree Go2 manufactured in China.
Within hours, screenshots flew and model numbers were traced. The stall shut down by Day 2 and the university blamed a vendor.
The Centre issued warnings about misrepresentation.
A robot dog learned more about geopolitics in 24 hours than most of us did in school.
Protest that entered the chat
In between panel discussions on large language models, members of the Youth Congress decided to stage a shirtless protest inside Exhibition Hall No 5. About ten protesters were detained and taken to Tilak Marg Police Station.
Their T-shirts featured Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Donald Trump, and slogans about trade deals and the “Epstein Files.”
The protesters removed their Tees to bare their vests, inside a hall meant to showcase frontier technology.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh criticised the disruption, pointing out that while the world was watching India’s tech leadership, the Congress had chosen performance art.
Security so tight even AI needed clearance
Ahead of the prime minister’s visit on the opening day, security measures intensified. Startup NeoSapiens reported that some of its wearables went “missing”.
Delhi police later returned them, but not before founders experienced the rare thrill of explaining to security personnel why their hardware was not, in fact, a threat to national security.
Delegates also spoke of restricted movement and temporary shortages of food and water.
Queue that tested human patience
Attendees reported waiting up to three hours to enter the venue on opening day. WiFi was patchy and the official app glitched. Some international delegates missed sessions while trying to get inside the venue.
It was a reminder that while India can discuss scaling to 20,000 GPUs, scaling entry gates remains an unsolved problem.
Unity photo that needed more unity
Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited global tech leaders to join hands and raise them together for a symbolic photograph. Many complied, including Sundar Pichai.
Standing next to each other, however, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei raised their fists but did not link hands, leaving a visible gap in the human chain. The moment went viral almost instantly.
Online observers called it the most accurate visual representation yet of the “AI cold war.”
Absence that became a headline
The reported withdrawal of Bill Gates became part of the summit’s running commentary, amid renewed scrutiny of his past associations linked to the Epstein case.
His absence was widely discussed, adding another political layer to what was meant to be a technology showcase.
20,000 GPUs and counting
In his address, Modi pushed the theme of “AI for all” and announced expanded access to more than 20,000 GPUs through the national AI Compute Portal. If nothing else, the summit made one thing clear: the future may be powered by an astronomical electricity bill funded by public money.
The launch of Sarvam AI’s Indic language models and other domestic tools was positioned as a step toward technological self-reliance, or at least toward fewer imported robot dogs.
But there were positives too. The expanded GPU access and focus on domestic AI tools marked a serious push to strengthen India’s research and startup ecosystem.
Big names, bigger commitments
The summit drew over 20 heads of state and around 60 ministers. Alongside Pichai and Altman, industrialist Mukesh Ambani was present. Microsoft announced a $50 billion commitment toward AI in emerging markets.
BharatGen Param2 and record fever
The unveiling of BharatGen Param2, a 17-billion-parameter model supporting 22 Indian languages, showcased India’s ambitions in building large-scale indigenous AI systems.
Organisers also announced a Guinness World Record for collecting over 250,000 AI responsibility pledges in 24 hours. Because in 2026, if you don’t have at least one world record at your summit, did it even happen?