AI Impact Summit 2026 got off to a rocky start on Monday as thousands arrived at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. Netizens have reported massive queues at major entry points, extreme crowding outside the event halls and bizarre restrictions on what could be carried into the venue. The organisers had eventually closed the venue gates as the crowd swelled — leaving one founder unable to access his own booth at the Summit.

“Gates are closed so I could not access my own booth at the AI Summit. If you’re also stuck outside and wanted to visit the bolna team, dm me. We may set up a mini-booth at some Connaught Place cafe,” joked start-up founder Maitreya Wagh.

Another X user flagged the bizarre list of items banned on the premises — including car keys, laptops, bags and food.

“Long queues at major entry points at the main gate, exhibition halls, and even to grab a coffee. Reason: Human security scanning with a physical device at most checkpoints. These aspects could have been easily automated using facial recognition & digital verification without compromising on security for a global AI summit of this order. Once you get inside the halls, the set up us smooth though,” added a third.

Over 2.5 lakh attendees

The event is expected to draw delegates from more than 30 countries — including ministers, senior officials, foreign representatives and members of international organisations. Top officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology also told news agency ANI that “more than 2.5 lakh people had registered from across the world” to attend the event.

“We have more than 2.5 lakh registrations from across India and the rest of the world. We’ve tried to make all the arrangements that we can. We never anticipated that there would be so many people willing and wanting to attend, which is why we did not restrict the registrations. So on all the days except the 19th, all of them are welcome to attend the various sessions that are going on,” added MeitY Secretary S Krishnan.

Traffic snarls across Delhi 

Commuters reported congestion and travel delays in various parts of Delhi amidst heavy enhanced security arrangements and traffic diversions for the event. Long queues of vehicles and near-zero movement were reported on key arterial routes and transport hubs — including the Delhi-Meerut Expressway near Sarai Kale Khan, the DND Flyway, the Vikas Marg-ITO stretch, Naraina, the Delhi Cantt Metro station area, and the Old Delhi Railway Station-Pul Mithai corridor.

Several people told news agency PTI that they had been stuck for over half an hour with zero vehicular movement on either side of the road. Delhi Police has deployed more than 10,000 personnel across the city, with nearly 5,000 traffic staff managing vehicular movement, diversions and VIP routes.

Traffic movement is currently regulated on several key stretches and the authorities have also issued advisories urging commuters to plan their travel and keep buffer time during peak hours.