New Delhi, Feb. 23 -- On the opening day of what was supposed to be the world's largest AI summit-the first in the Global South at this scale-the future showed up looking chaotic.

More than 80,000 people reportedly descended on Bharat Mandapam at once and the infrastructure couldn't handle it. Digital passes wouldn't scan, WiFi kept dropping out, and delegates stood queuing for hours in Delhi's winter sun. Some people waited three hours just to get through the doors. At a summit meant to showcase practical deployment and real-world impact, even basic connectivity fell apart.

The irony was instructive. This was not a meeting about abstract ethics or distant technological risks. Unlike earlier gatherings in Bletchley Park, Seoul, or Paris...