Rahul Gandhi, who addressed a gathering on artificial intelligence at a Silicon Valley incubator for startups on Wednesday, was described as a ‘living Buddha’ by the host - an Indian-American entrepreneur - news agency PTI reported. Shan Sankaran, founder of FixNix, a startup that provides a cloud-based platform to enable easy decision-making on governance, risk and compliance, said that the Congress leader had a profound knowledge about technology.
Calling Gandhi’s understanding of technology as ‘humane’, he explained that the former party president directly related it to the impact on the common man and employment. Sankaran added that the former MP was always curious without a ‘know-it-all’ attitude. “He expressed his kind of limitation on different subjects, but he always shows his appetite for the technology,” he said.
Other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs also interacted with the leader during the "AI and Human Development: A Chat with Rahul Gandhi’ event at Plug and Play.
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Gandhi revealed that he tries to follow his father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, regarding the adaptation of technology in different sectors including banking. Sankaran, who was accorded the rare O1 visa by the US meant for individuals of extraordinary capabilities, said that Gandhi also rooted for the regulation of technology instead of a blanket ban.
"Right now, what's happening in India…TikTok, you don't like it, Ban it. ..The US has not banned TikTok or drones. They regulate…made the CEO of TikTok come talk to all the members of the Congress," Sankaran noted.
{{/usCountry}}"Right now, what's happening in India…TikTok, you don't like it, Ban it. ..The US has not banned TikTok or drones. They regulate…made the CEO of TikTok come talk to all the members of the Congress," Sankaran noted.
{{/usCountry}}Referring to Gandhi’s claims of his phone being tapped by the Pegasus spyware, Sankaran said the technology is being used to silence the press, judiciary, independent institutions and the opposition, including Gandhi. At one point, Gandhi jokingly added, "Hello! Mr Modi" on his iPhone and told the audience he is not worried about it.
Calling Gandhi ‘very empathetic’, Sankaran continued, "... He's a living Buddha… and he follows Dhamma for that matter….he's not behind fancy designations. He could have become prime minister (twice) when they had that majority. Not a single soul in the Congress would have objected in case he wanted to…He never chose to."
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Gandhi arrived in New York after visiting Washington and San Francisco and will address a community rally at the Javits Centre in Manhattan on Sunday.
(With inputs from PTI)