Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, the Gates Foundation announced hours before his scheduled speech.

The foundation said the decision was made after “careful consideration” to keep the focus on the summit’s key priorities but did not provide further details. Instead, Ankur Vora, president of the foundation’s Africa and India offices, will speak on Gates’s behalf.

Gates’s withdrawal comes amid renewed scrutiny over his ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after his name appeared in recently released US Department of Justice files. Gates’s spokesperson called the claims “absolutely absurd and completely false,” and the billionaire has expressed regret over his association with Epstein. He has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims, and his appearance in the files does not imply criminal activity.

Summit Context

The five-day summit is India’s flagship attempt to position itself as a global AI hub, featuring:

• Policy discussions on AI governance and infrastructure
• Start-up showcases
• Closed-door meetings with global tech and policy leaders

The event has seen significant investment pledges, including from Microsoft to expand AI access in countries such as India. Delegates from over 100 countries are attending, including leaders like Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron.

Calls for AI Democratisation

Even without Gates, major figures addressed the summit:

• Sam Altman (OpenAI) urged urgent AI regulation and warned against centralising AI technology in one company or country.
• Modi emphasised that AI should empower people, not treat them as “raw material or data points,” particularly for the Global South.
• Macron called for a shift from “let’s do more” to “let’s do better together” regarding AI development.
• UN Secretary-General António Guterres stressed that AI’s future should not be decided by “a handful of countries” or “a few billionaires.”

Industry Commitments

• Sundar Pichai (Google) announced plans for an AI hub in Vishakhapatnam, aiming to create jobs and bring advanced AI to India.
• Mukesh Ambani pledged $110bn over seven years to develop India’s AI ecosystem.
• Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei expressed interest in collaborating with India on safety and security testing of AI models.

Gates’s withdrawal is a setback for the summit but highlights ongoing global debate over AI regulation, ethical deployment, and equitable access.