Ashwini Vaishnaw offers an apology for long delays faced by visitors on AI Summit’s opening day

Union Minister of Railways, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday apologised to participants who faced overcrowding and logistical confusion on the opening day of the India AI Impact Summit, attributing the disruption to an overwhelming turnout and calling the response to the event “phenomenal.”

“This is the biggest AI Summit in the world. The response was phenomenal. The energy is palpable. We can see the organisation is very smooth now. If anybody has faced any problems yesterday, we apologise for that,” he said at a press conference held at Bharat Mandapam.

According to the Union Minister, more than 70,000 people attended the summit during its initial phase, drawing startup founders, global technology firms and international delegates. The surge in footfall led to long queues, overlapping security checks and temporary disruption for some exhibitors, prompting criticism online before organisers stabilised arrangements.


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Beyond the opening-day chaos, Vaishnaw outlined India’s broader artificial intelligence ambitions, saying the country could see over $200 billion in investments across the AI stack within the next two years, in addition to about $90 billion already committed. He added that AI deployment in the defence sector is inevitable and stressed the need to democratise access to the technology while bridging capability gaps.

Further, the minister also flagged power and water consumption as major challenges for AI infrastructure, noting that the government is investing in clean energy and encouraging research to significantly reduce resource use.

Calling deepfakes a rapidly growing threat, he said stronger regulation and safeguards--especially to protect children--are under discussion with industry and social media platforms, including conversations around possible age-based restrictions. He further urged the IT sector to accelerate reskilling and upskilling of the workforce to prepare for AI-led transformation.

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Responding to questions on the attendance of global figures such as Bill Gates, Vaishnaw said participation in the summit is a personal choice and declined further comment.

The government, he added, remains open to feedback to ensure smoother experiences in the remaining days of what is being positioned as one of the world’s largest AI gatherings.