India Threw the World's Biggest AI Party and It Was an Absolute Dumpster Fire

India just hosted what was supposed to be the most important AI summit outside the US and China. Instead, it turned into one of the most chaotic tech events in recent memory.

The India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi attracted over 250,000 registered attendees, along with heavy hitters like OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked things off with a big speech about India charting its own AI destiny.

Sounds great on paper. In reality? Total chaos.

Media couldn't get through security. Traffic was gridlocked for hours. Instructions kept changing. Nobody seemed to know what was happening or when.

Then Bill Gates, who was supposed to give a big keynote, pulled out at the last minute because of the Epstein files controversy. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also canceled. A university got kicked out for claiming a Chinese-made robot dog was their own invention.

And the cherry on top? During a group photo, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei (whose companies are in a heated rivalry) were asked to hold hands and they refused. The awkward moment went viral.

Despite the mess, the US announced new AI initiatives including an AI-focused Peace Corps program and World Bank funding for countries to buy AI systems. So at least something productive came out of it.

As reported by CNBC and NBC News.

Source: CNBC