Bill Gates to skip India AI Impact Summit after being named in Epstein files

Bill Gates will not be attending the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the Gates Foundation India said in a statement on Thursday (Feb 19). This comes after the Microsoft co-founder was named in the Epstein files released by the US Department of Justice. The organisation will instead be represented by Ankur Vora, President of the Africa and India Offices, who is set to speak at the Summit.

“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 India said. “The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals.”

Earlier, Gates had been listed among global tech leaders, policymakers, founders and innovators on the official website of the AI Impact Summit. His name briefly disappeared from the key participants’ list on Wednesday (Feb 18), but the Gates Foundation had said that he would be delivering his keynote as scheduled on Thursday.

According to the schedule, Gates was expected to deliver a 12-minute keynote address on Thursday at 11:50 am at Bharat Mandapam, where several global leaders and industrialists are expected to participate.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also delivered his speech at the summit, where he hailed the event as a milestone not just for India, but for the wider South Asian region.

This marks the fourth year of the AI Impact Summit, an international conference dedicated to the swift progress in AI. Previous editions took place in Paris, Seoul, and Bletchley, historically known as Britain's wartime code-breaking centre. The New Delhi summit is the first global AI meeting held in a developing country. The five-day summit was scheduled to be wrapped up on Friday (Feb 20), but has now been extended by a day following strong public response.