Bill Gates pulls out of India AI Summit hours before keynote amid Epstein controversy

Bill Gates pulls out of India's AI summit amid Epstein files controversy

Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, his philanthropic organisation said hours before the Microsoft co-founder was due to speak. The Gates Foundation said the decision was made after "careful consideration" and "to ensure the focus remains on the [summit's] key priorities", but did not elaborate. Gates's withdrawal comes amid a controversy over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein after he was named in new files released by the US Department of Justice in January. Gates's spokesperson has called the claims in the files "absolutely absurd and completely false", and the billionaire has said he regretted spending time with Epstein. Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein's victims and the appearance of his name in the files does not imply criminal activity of any kind. The Gates Foundation said that Ankur Vora, president of its Africa and India offices, would speak at the summit instead of Gates. The organisation added that it remained "fully committed" to its work in India to advance "shared health and development goals". The announcement comes after days of uncertainty over whether Gates would attend the summit. He is currently in India and had visited the southern state of Andhra Pradesh on Monday, where he reportedly discussed initiatives for boosting health, agriculture, education and technology. After media reports speculated that he would pull out of the summit, his foundation said on Tuesday that he would deliver the address as scheduled. The withdrawal is a blow for the summit, which India has pitched as a flagship gathering to position the country as a global AI hub. However, there are a number of big names speaking on Thursday, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. In his keynote address on Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would play a key role in an AI-driven future but also called on the West to democratise the technology by sharing it. "AI must become a tool for inclusion and empowerment, particularly for the Global South," he said. He also stressed the need to develop "common global standards" to combat deepfakes and fake information. Delegates from more than 100 countries, including several heads of states, are attending the event, which has been marked by some controversies over mismanagement on the first day and an Indian university's claims to have developed a robot dog that turned out to be made in China. The five-day summit features policy discussions, start-up showcases and closed-door meetings on AI governance, infrastructure and innovation. The event has also seen investment pledges by companies, including Microsoft, to expand AI access and infrastructure in countries such as India. Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook.

Bill Gates to skip AI Summit keynote - The Economic Times

Microsoft founder Bill Gates will not deliver his scheduled keynote address at the ongoing AI Impact Summit, organisers said on Thursday. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will instead be represented by Ankur Vora, president of its Africa and India offices, who is set to speak later in the day.Microsoft founder Bill Gates will not deliver his scheduled keynote address at the ongoing AI Impact Summit, organisers said on Thursday. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will instead be represented by Ankur Vora, president of its Africa and India offices, who is set to speak later in the day. In a statement, the Foundation said it remains fully committed to its work in India, particularly in advancing shared health and development goals. No further details were provided on the reason for the change in keynote plans.

Bill Gates pulls out of AI Summit hours before his keynote address

AI Summit news: Bill Gates has withdrawn from the AI Summit in Delhi just hours before his keynote address, with Ankur Vora replacing him. Government sources suggested his name appearing in files related to Jeffrey Epstein may have influenced the decision. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang also pulled out due to unavoidable circumstances. Bill Gates has pulled out of the ongoing AI Summit in Delhi just hours before he was scheduled to deliver his keynote address and will be replaced by Ankur Vora, said the Gates Foundation. "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," said the official statement. Also Read:'Please don't use LLMs as a search engine alternative,' says HCL Software's Kalyan Kumar "The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals," added the foundation. Gates was listed as a keynote speaker on February 19 - the day all the bigwigs will descend at Bharat Mandapam. He was given a 12-minute speaking slot at 11:50 am. Gates arrived in India on Monday. His first stop during the visit was Vijayawada, where he met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan, and senior state government officials. Read more: India AI Impact Summit 2026: India's billion-strong users set to rule the AI game as creators barely get a slice Ministers Nara Lokesh, Vangalapudi Anitha, K Archannaidu, and Y Satya Kumar had welcomed Gates at the Vijayawada international airport on Monday. This week's AI Impact Summit is the fourth annual gathering to discuss how to govern the fast-evolving technology -- and also an opportunity for India to raise its profile in the booming sector.

India AI summit stumbles as Bill Gates pulls out, chaos mounts

Image credit: Getty Images Bill Gates pulled out of India's AI Impact Summit hours before his scheduled keynote address on Thursday, dealing another blow to a flagship event already marred by organisational lapses, a robot row and delegate complaints over traffic disruptions. Gates' absence, followed by another high-profile cancellation by Nvidia's Jensen Huang, adds to a difficult opening for a summit billed as the first major artificial intelligence forum in the Global South, where India has sought to position itself as a leading voice in worldwide AI governance. Read more-The AI arms race: How is technology disrupting economies? The Gates Foundation said the billionaire will not deliver his address "to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit's key priorities". Only days ago, the foundation had dismissed rumours of his absence and insisted he was on track to attend. Gates' cancellation comes after the US Department of Justice released emails last month that included communication between late financier and convicted offender Jeffrey Epstein and the Gates Foundation's staff. Gates has said the relationship was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was a mistake for him to meet Epstein. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for children's safety on AI platforms as he addressed the gathering on Thursday, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei. "We must be even more vigilant about children's safety. Just as a school syllabus is curated, the AI space should also be child- and family-guided," Modi said, after standing on stage with top AI executives and posing for photographs with their arms raised in a show of strength. However, India's first major AI summit has been marred by management lapses that have left attendees shocked and angry over what they described as a lack of planning by the Indian government. Chaos and traffic snarls The summit exhibition halls were shut to the public on Thursday in a surprise move that led to more anger among participating companies that had put up stalls and pavilions. The venue compound was largely deserted after three days of large crowds at the event. On Wednesday, Indian university Galgotias was asked to vacate its stall after a staff member presented a commercially available robotic dog made in China as its own creation, sparking a public uproar. Police shut roads to give preference to VIP movement at the summit, creating chaos in the city of 20 million people. On Wednesday, footage on social media showed scores of attendees at the summit walking for miles in central Delhi as roads were shut for traffic, with no availability of taxis and no shuttle services arranged. Reposting one such video, opposition leader Mahua Moitra wrote on X that the poor management had besmirched India's reputation globally. Still, there has been more than $100bn of investment in India AI projects pledged during the summit, including from the Adani Group conglomerate, tech giant Microsoft, and data centre firm Yotta. The Indian government has said it expects total pledges to exceed $200bn in the next two years, although analysts have warned the rapid build-out risks straining India's power grid and water supply.