Bill Gates Backs Out of India AI Summit as Epstein Scrutiny Resurfaces

Bill Gates abruptly scrapped his keynote at a marquee AI summit in New Delhi, bowing out just hours before he was set to take the stage. The Gates Foundation said the decision was made “after careful consideration” to keep the spotlight on the event’s priorities. The move comes amid renewed scrutiny of Gates’s past relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a connection Gates has previously described as a “huge mistake” and one that foundation CEO Mark Suzman recently acknowledged had “sullied” the organization’s reputation, according to the Financial Times.

The timing is awkward. India’s AI summit, a centerpiece of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s push to position the country as a global tech heavyweight, opened this week with ambitions running high. Gates’s absence shifts attention, at least briefly, from AI investment and innovation to reputational risk management. The foundation’s India and Africa head will step in instead, while Microsoft has reiterated its own $50 billion commitment to expanding AI across the global south, a reminder that money and momentum behind the AI race continue apace.