HTLS 2026 LIVE: Manas AI CEO Siddhartha Mukherjee says China and India can reverse ‘Eroom’s Law’

Speaking about the evolution of artificial intelligence, Manas AI CEO Siddhartha Mukherjee spoke about ‘Deep Blue’, an IBM-developed supercomputer designed to play chess.

In May 1997, it defeated reigning world chess champion Garry Kasparov in a six-game rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a reigning world champion in a match under standard tournament conditions.

The landmark victory displayed the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence and marked a defining moment in the history of human-machine competition.

Manas AI CEO Siddhartha Mukherjee said on Friday that the world is moving in a dangerous but powerful way.

Detailing the growth of artificial intelligence through a presentation at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, Mukherjee said, “It was noticed that human beings don’t learn by symbolic systems alone.”

“…human beings largely learn neural learning and a little bit of symbolic. even for common place conversations we use neural learning and we superpose it with symbolic learning,” Mukherjee said while comparing symbolic AI (also known as classical or rule-based AI) and Neural AI (connectionist or deep learning AI) which represent two foundational and contrasting paradigms in artificial intelligence.

There is an enormous concern about rapid rise of AI across the world, said Manas AI CEO Siddhartha Mukherjee at the HT Leadership Summit 2026 on Saturday.

“The single mitigating feature of AI is its capacity to produce transformative change in medicine then we will rekindle doubts about AI to do many things,” Mukherjee said.

China and India with appropriate technological reform can reverse Eroom’s law, says Manas AI co-founder and CEO Siddhartha Mukherjee.

Eroom’s law — ‘Moore’s law’ spelled backwards — is the observation that the cost of developing a new pharmaceutical drug increases exponentially over time, even as technology and research tools improve.

Siddhartha Mukherjee is a pioneering physician, oncologist, and author whose elegant exploration of public health and medicine has transformed our understanding of the human body and mind. Born in New Delhi, he studied biology at Stanford University, earned a DPhil in immunology from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and completed his medical degree at Harvard Medical School.

Currently serving on the faculty of medicine at Columbia University, Mukherjee gained international renown with his book, The Emperor of All Maladies, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize. He further explored the foundations of biology and clinical history in widely lauded works, including The Gene: An Intimate History.

Conferred the Padma Shri in 2014, he co-founded Manas AI which leverages AI to accelerate every step of bringing life-saving medicines to patients – from target identification to clinical trials – and build global partnership infrastructure that redefines clinical efficiency, cutting timelines dramatically without compromising patient safety.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke about the US’ ties with Pakistan.

“But I think there’s a moment here to take your point where, yes, for sure, this expedience, if you want to call it that, with Pakistan, given the imperatives of the Cold War, then given the imperatives of Afghanistan, probably caused us to have less of a critical hand than we might have when it comes to the government, the regime, the civil military balance, let’s put it that way, in Pakistan,” he added.

“And there’s certainly an opportunity for the United States to do more,” Blinken said.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the differences in ties with India and Pakistan.

“India is a global force. Pakistan is a regional one. These are fundamentally different relationships,” he said.

“We have zero tolerance for terrorism. We acknowledge India’s right to self-defence when it is being attacked,” Blinken added.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there should not be an expectation that India follow what we are doing or what we ask of them.

“There will be places where we don’t have the same perspectives. For Russia, we understand there is deep history between India and Russia. So, we don’t want them to end it. But in cases like these, we have to see how we can maintain this relationship. A unique partnership and deep ties don’t just happen. It takes hard work and commitment,” he added.

Former US State Secretary Antony Blinken, speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, said that the relationship between India and the US is essential for the new period.

“We moved from estrangement to a genuine and, in some ways, unique partnership, built on a convergence of strategic interests. Of course, it is also underpinned by the profound people-to-people connections between our societies,” he added.

Blinken further said that the first breakthrough that really changed the India-US relationship was our ability to establish nuclear cooperation.

“The next step is tech cooperation, our ability to work in space, tech, quantum, and artificial intelligence,” he added.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the emerging reality is hybrid.

“It may be less of a world that is divided between democracy and autocracy or east or west, but rather one that has greater say from tech spaces and other shareholders. My only hope is that democracy remains,” Blinken added.

Speaking on the Iran war, former US State Secretary Antony Blinken said that under the peace resolution, what Iran ultimately agrees to do on its nuclear programme may not look any different from the agreement President Donald Trump tore up.

“Any resolution will almost certainly involve giving Iran something. Whether it is, and I would hate to see this happen, some form of toll that is not officially called a toll, or some other arrangement. The reality is that Iran has demonstrated that it can make life extremely difficult,” he added.

He also mentioned Iran’s features, including its population of 90 million, its coastline along the Strait of Hormuz and its weapons production facilities.

“Its weapons production facilities are located far enough inland, and their range is sufficiently extensive, that you cannot simply destroy everything,” Blinken added.

Former US State Secretary Antony Blinken said that Iran is four times the size of California and three times the size of Iraq. “The weapons it (Iran) produces, the range, is great enough. Everything points to desirability and offerings. There is a 50 per cent chance that the status quo we have now will prevail and there is a 20-30 per cent chance of escalation, which will prove to be grave,” he added.

Blinken, however, said that the best thing to do “is to get the off-ramp with (US President Donald) Trump.”

“But will that happen? I’m not so sure,” he added.

Former US State Secretary Antony Blinken, at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, said that the Strait of Hormuz was not a problem before the war in Iran. However, since the war started, the crucial waterway has become a problem, he added.

Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the war in Iran was a major issue in the midterm elections.

“The war on Iran was a very unfortunate choice, and the decision dates back to the first Trump administration,” he added. “Trump went for regime change, which has not worked out as hoped. I thought the conflict would have ended quicker,” Blinken said.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, said that Israel and its effect on policy didn’t seem to be a major driver in this election. “If you look at the polling, that’s not what was motivating people. In certain individual places, it might be. But in most places, it was not,” he added.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken responded to a question about the presidential fields for Republicans and Democrats.

“It will take me less time to tell you who is not running because both the sides have young, new people who will contest. The Democratic Party will be meeting and debating its direction for the election,” he added.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that the midterm election results, in which Democrats secured a majority, could have profound implications for presidential elections and the Electoral College.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, referring to the US midterm election results, said that states that seemed to be off the Democrats’ map forever are now suddenly on it.

“Trump came in and made some great concrete promises, and has not delivered on them yet. People are frustrated with that,” he added.

Former US State Secretary Antony Blinken, speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, said he didn’t expect the US midterm elections to turn out the way they did, i.e., a Democratic flip.

“I did not see this result coming. The shift in numbers is extraordinary,” he said.

In the November midterm elections, the Democrats secured majorities in the US Senate and House of Representatives, flipping several Republican seats.

Former US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, said that now are at an inflection point in the world, one that does not come around that often.

He said that the US has a generation that feels it is getting a raw deal in comparison to its parents and grandparents.

Next up at the HT Leadership Summit 2026 is Antony J Blinken, the 71st US Secretary of State.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, said that the Cockroach Janta Party’s fight is with the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“CJP’s protest was against the BJP. It started with the NEET paper leak after students from the middle and lower classes saw how the government was playing with their future,” he said.

It was not just a youth movement; they also had the support of parents, he added.

“Samajwadi Party has always stood with the youth and for the youth. Gen Z wants clarity; they don’t want fake promises,” Yadav added.

He said the moment CJP announced its protest, we knew this was against the BJP. Yadav also said that many SP members wanted to join the movement as part of the party’s support for the youth, and they did so. “Our youth workers were there (at the CJP protest),” he said.

Samajwadi Party National President Akhilesh Yadav said that law and order cannot be maintained through bulldozers.

His reaction came days after Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath said that bulldozers are a brand associated with the state.

“You talk about the bulldozer as a symbol of law and order. But law and order cannot be maintained through bulldozers. Whose houses have you demolished? Whose homes have you destroyed? Those who were poor and vulnerable, those who had nowhere else to go. There are records of these actions.

But what does the government call it? It uses different terminology for it,” he said.

Speaking about the law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav asked for proof that law and order is better in UP.

“If law and order is better, what is the proof of that? If someone has come first in a class, they must have received the highest marks. But for UP, where is the proof?” he asked.

According to Yadav, crimes against Dalits and women have increased in UP. He said that UP has taken the top spot when it comes to crimes against Dalits. “Top mafias are also in UP,” he added.

Yadav further said that UP Police say they are tough on crime. But he said, “The High Court and Supreme Court have, 81 times, reprimanded the UP government.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, speaking at the HT Leadership Summit 2026, termed the Agra-Lucknow Expressway the best in Uttar Pradesh.

He said, “The best expressway in UP, the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, was built by the SP government.” He said that all the other expressways built after that are based on the SP model.