AI Impact Summit Marred by Chaos and High-Profile No-Shows

The AI Impact Summit in India faced setbacks with cancellations by Bill Gates and Nvidia's Jensen Huang. Prime Minister Modi emphasized children's safety in AI. Major investments were pledged, but organizational issues led to public backlash over traffic and venue mishaps, with criticism from opposition parties.

The AI Impact Summit in India faced unexpected challenges when Bill Gates withdrew hours before his keynote speech, followed by Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang. Gates cited wanting to maintain focus on summit priorities, amidst surrounding controversies involving Jeffrey Epstein's emails and the Gates Foundation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the importance of AI safety for children during his address at the summit, which also featured industry leaders such as Google's Sundar Pichai and OpenAI's Sam Altman. Despite high-profile no-shows, Indian firms announced significant AI infrastructure investment commitments.

However, the event has been criticized for organizational issues, including traffic chaos, restricted public access, and logistical failures, prompting backlash from companies and opposition parties alike. The government has apologized for the inconveniences that affected the attendees' experience.

(With inputs from agencies.)