What I saw at India’s AI summit

India hosted one of the world’s largest AI events this week but it was marred by chaos and confusion; Apparently, that’s not the message he’s trying to send as he tries to become a leading AI player.

Despite the drama, US tech firms in particular could not resist the lure of the Indian market, talking up the country’s artificial intelligence potential and making a series of announcements.

I have been in New Delhi since Monday and I can honestly say that the AI ​​Impact Summit has been one of the most challenging reporting assignments of my career.

Traffic has become more of a nightmare than ever in India’s capital. There were times when he didn’t move at all. I had events and interviews at three different hotels on Wednesday and it was really difficult to get the team to those appointments on time.

At one point on Thursday, we weren’t even sure if we would be able to enter the Bharat Mandapam, the site of the summit. This was because instructions on when to allow media were not clear on Thursday, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the event.

We finally found out that we could enter at 6 am local time. When we arrived, security did not let us in until later, when a media crowd gathered at the doors. Inside, security was giving conflicting instructions.

Several delegates expressed to me their disappointment with the organization of the summit.

The event itself was marred by other controversies. Bill Gates, who is mentioned in the Epstein files, was scheduled to give the opening speech. At that time, there was even uncertainty about whether he would come or not. The Gates Foundation had announced that it would give the speech earlier in the week, but announced on Thursday that the billionaire was withdrawing.

Meanwhile, a university that claimed that the robot dog they exhibited was its own creation was reportedly kicked out of the top. A professor at the University of Galgotias told state broadcaster DD News that the robot, actually produced by Chinese firm Unitree, was “developed” by the academic institution.

Internet users called out to the university and emphasized that the robot was made by a Chinese company. The university denied the claim that it produced the robot.

“Given that developing AI talent is so important, we would like to make it clear that robotics programming is part of our effort to enable students to learn AI programming and develop and use real-world skills using globally available tools and resources. [the] According to media reports, the university is the need of the hour,” he said.

India’s IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw apologized on Tuesday for “issues” on the first day.

Then, there was a hand-holding moment between the two artificial intelligence giants that went viral. Modi had his delegates on stage and everyone was holding hands. But OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei did not do as they were told, in a moment that drew immediate scrutiny on social media. Altman later explained that he was “confused” and unsure of what he should do.

Days ago, Anthropic released a Super Bowl ad examining OpenAI’s decision to test ads on ChatGPT.

Despite all these moments, the event attracted the attention of names from the technology world. Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told Altman about India’s advantages, from a large talent pool to a large consumer market.