Boldly Hosting an AI Summit, But First Day Brings a Torrent of Negative Reviews... India Apologizes

On February 16 local time, the five-day India Artificial Intelligence Influence Summit kicked off. However, according to reports from foreign media such as the BBC and Reuters, this event, intended to showcase India's ambition to challenge Chinese and American tech giants in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), faced criticism on the first day due to disorganized arrangements, poor logistics, and stolen exhibition products, leading to complaints from attendees. Online, there was a wave of criticism.

According to the report, the summit is themed "People, Progress, Earth," hosted by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology of India, and promoted as the largest AI summit ever held by the Global South. On the 19th, Indian Prime Minister Modi will deliver a speech at the summit.

It is expected that representatives from over 100 countries will attend the summit, including tech executives such as Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. Huang Renxun, CEO of NVIDIA, had originally planned to attend the event in New Delhi but ultimately could not due to "unavoidable" reasons.

However, the BBC reported that the AI summit faced criticism on its first day due to overcrowding and poor management at the New Delhi International Exhibition Centre. On the afternoon of the 16th, social media was filled with complaints from founders, exhibitors, and representatives who said security checks and temporary closure of exhibition halls left them stranded outside the venue.

Several representatives told Reuters that due to last-minute security checks before high-level guests arrived, the exhibition hall was suddenly cleared, and unclear instructions caused many people to have to hurriedly retrieve their belongings.

Hogg, co-founder of the AI startup Bolna, said on the social platform X that after the exhibition hall doors were closed, he could not enter his company's booth. Jia Yin, founder of the technology platform Reskill, described that the venue started queuing at 7 am, followed by hours of waiting, and a "full evacuation" until Modi arrived.

Adhav, founder of the wearable AI startup NeoSapiens, sarcastically posted on the social media platform X that his company had invested heavily in travel, accommodation, and the booth, "but saw our wearable devices disappear in a highly secure area."

Many also complained about the inconvenience of payment methods at food stalls inside the venue, which only accepted cash and did not support online payments, especially inconvenient for international visitors. Sharm, founder of the health AI company Livo AI, pointed out that some discussions were held in closed environments, and due to the large crowd, security closed some sessions, preventing many representatives from participating. He believed that this undermined the goal of the summit to showcase India's AI ecosystem to the world.

He bluntly stated on X: "If we can't even handle basic tasks, we can't claim to fully utilize AI. AI is just part of the system; we must first resolve the basic issues on site."

According to a report by Reuters, the AI summit caused hotel prices in New Delhi to skyrocket. A suite at Taj Mahal Hotel, which normally costs about $2,200 per night, was priced over $33,000 last week, sparking controversy on social media. In addition, attendees also reported a lack of on-site signage and limited seating, exacerbating the chaos. Some speakers originally scheduled to participate in panel discussions on the 17th were still waiting for confirmation of the session and agenda.

On the 17th, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology of India, apologized to exhibitors for "all problems and inconveniences."

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1857387534475271/

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