AI Summit 2026 Highlights: BJP says 'brainless' on shirtless protest; Piyush Goyal, Rajnath Singh target Congress

Chinmay Pandya, Chairperson of SAIPR, highlighted the significant potential of Artificial Intelligence in India at the India AI Impact Summit held in New Delhi, while also stressing the need for ethical guidelines and regulatory mechanisms.

Pandya, in a conversation with ANI, on the sidelines of the AI Summit on Friday, said, "There is certainly unprecedented potential for India. Where there is fire, there is smoke. The advent of AI will certainly increase accessibility. AI is dominating every aspect of health, education, governance, warfare, but if ethical guidelines and regulatory mechanisms are not developed at the right time, it could fall into the wrong hands, which is a matter of concern. Keeping this in mind, we are holding an AI for Democracy talk here today."

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday that India received "a lot of" investment pledges at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 with over $250 billion under infra-related investments and about $20 billion under Venture Capital and deep tech investments.

"The numbers are important, but what is important is that the world has confidence in India's role in the new AI age," Vaishnaw was quoted as saying by ANI.

Commerce minister Piyush Goyal has demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi as he condemned the shirtless protest by IYC workers at the AI Summit in New Delhi.

The minister accused the Congress of being "anti-India face" and being “bereft of any positive programme or nation-building ideas”.

"I condemn the Congress party's arrogance. It clearly reflects their jealousy, envy, and disappointment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is emerging as the most popular leader not only in India but across the world. It clearly shows that the Congress party is bereft of any positive programme or nation-building ideas," Goyal was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The members of Bharatiya Janata Party Yuva Morcha who had reached Rahul Gandhi's house have been taken by the police to Parliament Street police station, NDTV reported.

Here is what MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on the India AI Impact Summit:

-The India AI Impact Summit was described as a “grand success.”

-20 world leaders attended the summit.

-45 ministerial-level delegations participated from across the globe.

-Representatives from 100 countries were present at the summit.

-Strong focus on the Global South, while maintaining a truly global character.

-30 European delegations participated at the official level.

-Several European heads of state and government attended.

-The Prime Minister held bilateral meetings with 16 world leaders.

A shirtless protest by he workers of the Youth Congress workers has prompted a legal action by the Delhi . The protestors had registered for the summit online, Additional Commissioner of Police Devesh Mahla told news agency ANI.

He further added that the protestors were wearing sweaters and jackets over objectionable T-shirts. Near Hall Number 5, one of them removed his outer clothing and waved the T-shirt in protest. The official added that appropriate legal action is being taken and that those detained are being identified.

Costa Rica's Minister of Science, Innovation, Technology and Telecommunications, Paula Bogantes Zamora on Friday praised India's leadership in leveraging AI for national development.

She also called Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of ethical, inclusive Artificial Intelligence governance “the right message to be conveyed at this time.”

"That is the right message to be conveyed at this time. It's undoubted that AI needs to be an element that every government needs to consider when talking about developing the country's economy," Bogantes was quoted as saying by ANI

Union Minister Jitendra Singh said that the ‘shirtless’ protest staged by the Indian Youth Congress on Friday at the India AI Summit in New Delhi reflects the party's “deep frustration and sense of entitlement.”

“Mr. Rahul Gandhi, is undermining India’s global reputation just to attack the Government your version of constructive opposition?” he wrote in a X post.

“As misleading claims are being pushed around recent trade agreements to stall India’s progress, your party members chose to march shirtless at a prestigious AI Summit seemingly to project a negative image of 140 crore Indians before the world,” he said, adding that such tactics only highlight the absence of a forward-looking vision for the nation.

Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan slammed the protest by the Indian Youth Congress at the India AI Impact Summit, calling it an "anti-India" move.

Responding to those remarks, MP Congress President Jitendra (Jitu) Patwari said, "The trade deal is anti-India. The way Trump has oppressed and slashed the throats of Indian farmers is anti-India. The way he mentioned Pakistan and 11 fighter jets yesterday is anti-India."

Attendees of the India AI Summit around Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reacted to the Indian Youth Congress protest, as one attendee said, "This should not have happened, doing a protest during the AI summit does not send a good impression..."

Another person present at the venue said, “... Guests from around the world are participating in the summit. Our nation's reputation is at stake; we all should celebrate it...There are a lot of inspirations at the summit...”

“This is CONGRESS ARROGANCE & FRUSTRATION on display!” said Piyush Goyal, the Minister of Commerce and Industry.

He was referring to the ‘shirtless’ protest' that was staged by the members of Indian Youth Congress earlier in the day at the AI Summit.

The protestors accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of compromising national interests at the summit.

“So Mr. Rahul Gandhi, humiliating India to target the Government is your idea of opposition!” Goyal said on X (formerly Twitter).

“While you want to CHOKE India's development by peddling lies about the recent trade deals, your foot soldiers are marching shirtless at the prestigious AI Summit, attempting to embarrass 140 crore Indians globally,” he added.

Goyal further said that the disruption strategy only exposes the party’s lack of vision for India.

White House technology adviser Michael Kratsios said on Friday that the United States "totally" rejects global governance of artificial intelligence, AFP reported.

"As the Trump Administration has now said many times: We totally reject global governance of AI," he said at the summit, which draws to a close on Friday.

"AI adoption cannot lead to a brighter future if it is subject to bureaucracies and centralised control."

His remarks come after UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Friday morning that a new expert panel convened by the global body has been formed, which aims to "make human control a technical reality".

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, Founder of Info Edge told ANI, "India will get a lot in the AI summit. I think what the AI summit has done is bring all Indian AI companies and technologies onto one platform for everyone to see. Awareness has spread. The general public has got aware of AI. You saw the crowds here. So I think massive awareness all around will help the spread of AI.

On protest by Indian Youth Congress workers at AI Impact Summit, an eyewitness says, "Sumit Patni told ANI, " As a visitor, I feel this is not the right place to hold such a protest. It gives a bad image to the country. This is not a place for protest, where India is holding an international event and talking about AI. Such a protest should not happen. I was standing at a booth when I heard sloganeering against the honourable PM by some. We understood their intent of the protest was to create a ruckus."

Cristiano Amon, CEO and President of Qualcomm at the Summit, was quoted by ANI as saying, "We're heading to the next big transformation of the telecom sector. 6G is going to provide an evolution of connectivity, faster speed, lower latency, higher coverage, but that's not the story. That's just a piece of the story. It's just continue to improve the connectivity.

He added, "The big part of 6G is AI, like I said before, is now going to come to the telecom network. And that becomes a large-scale AI network that is processing and gets trained on all of the signals that happen at the network, and provides new capabilities. One of the biggest features of 6G is that the network is the sensing network at scale..."

“Congress has once again proven that for them, AI isn't Ambitious India, Artificial Intelligence, Aspirational India. For them, AI is anti-India. This isn't the INC, this is the ANC, the anti-National Congress. The AI ​​Summit is being praised worldwide. From President Macron to the United Nations Secretary General, to top tech company honchos, from Sam Altman to Sundar Pichai, everyone is praising it. Even Shashi Tharoor said the AI ​​Summit was excellent. But at Rahul Gandhi's behest, the Congress party is protesting; it is a characterless, brainless, emotionless protest. This isn't a protest against the BJP, it's not a protest against the PM, it's a protest against India's achievements,” says BJP's Shehzad Poonawalla.

According to Delhi Police, four to five people have been detained. They are checking whether they entered with a pass or a QR code.

“Indian Youth Congress workers raised their voice and protested against the compromised Prime Minister who has traded the identity of the country at the AI Summit,” the IYC said in a media update.

At least 10 protesters stormed into the AI Impact Summit on its last day.

Delhi Police says it is taking legal action in connection with the protest by the Indian Youth Congress, as per an ANI report.