Bill Gates pulls out of India AI Summit after 'careful consideration'

After two days of uncertainty, the Gates Foundation India on Thursday said that founder Bill Gates will not deliver his previously scheduled keynote at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi. The foundation, however, did not specify the reason for his withdrawal, saying only that the decision was made "to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities".

"After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit's key priorities, Mr Gates will not be delivering his keynote address. The Gates Foundation will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit. The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals," the Gates Foundation said in a post on X.

Gates was scheduled to deliver a 12-minute keynote on Thursday alongside tech leaders such as Sundar Pichai, Sam Altman and Dario Amodei. The uncertainty around his attendance at the summit began on Tuesday when multiple reports, citing government sources, said he would not be addressing the event. The reports were, however, followed by the Gates Foundation's clarification that he will be participating in the event.

Gates arrived in India on Monday and travelled first to Vijayawada, where he met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM K Pawan Kalyan, and senior state officials.

Bill Gates and the Epstein files

Bill Gates was recently embroiled in a controversy linked to his ties with late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The US Department of Justice last month released millions of documents related to Epstein, offering fresh insight into the disgraced financier’s ties with several high-profile individuals, including Gates, Bill Clinton and US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

Although Gates has not faced any allegations of misconduct from Epstein’s victims, documents made public by the Justice Department include an allegation by Epstein that Bill Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. A spokesperson for Gates had earlier dismissed the allegation as "absolutely absurd".