The Gates Foundation said on Thursday that its chairman Bill Gates will no longer attend the India AI Impact Summit 2026, where he had originally been slated to deliver a keynote address on the fourth day.
In an official statement, the foundation said, “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.”
It added, “The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals.”
Earlier in the week, reports had suggested that Gates might skip the summit during his India trip, though the foundation initially denied those claims and maintained that he would speak as scheduled.
Gates had arrived in India recently and visited Andhra Pradesh, where he met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan and senior state officials. During the visit, they inaugurated several initiatives backed by the Gates Foundation.
His decision not to attend the summit also comes amid backlash linked to references to him in the newly released Epstein files, a collection of more than three million documents. Some emails attributed to Epstein allege that Gates had approached him to arrange meetings with married women and to obtain medication related to an STI. One message states, “To add insult to the injury, you then implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis,”
A spokesperson for Gates has strongly rejected the allegations, saying, “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
