​​Ashwini vaishnaw apologises for Day 1 inconvenience at AI summit, says fixes are already in motion

Union IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday apologised to attendees who faced inconvenience on the opening day of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, after crowding and entry bottlenecks led to delays at the venue.

“If anybody has faced any problems yesterday, my apologies for that,” Vaishnaw said at a press interaction at Bharat Mandapam, adding that a dedicated “war room” had been set up to capture complaints and coordinate faster on-ground resolution.

The minister’s remarks came even as the summit drew heavy footfall and wide participation from policymakers, startups, industry leaders and students — a scale that, while stretching logistics on Day 1, also underlined the event’s growing pull and relevance in India’s technology calendar.

Vaishnaw used the briefing to reinforce the government’s broader AI pitch: building platforms that can scale for citizens and developers. He reiterated the idea of an “AI ka UPI”, invoking Unified Payments Interface as a model for how public digital infrastructure can enable large ecosystems, and spoke about the push for “sovereign AI” capabilities.

He also reiterated that global platforms such as Netflix and Meta must operate within India’s legal framework, framing it as part of a wider approach to trust and accountability online.

While opposition leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, criticised the Day 1 arrangements, Vaishnaw’s quick acknowledgement and apology paired with a visible troubleshooting mechanism signalled an attempt to tighten execution without losing momentum on the summit’s larger agenda.

Overall, the message from the government was clear: the turnout has been strong, the summit is on track, and operational gaps flagged early are being addressed in real time.