India AI Impact Summit: Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, will attend the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi and deliver his keynote address as scheduled, a spokesperson for the foundation told Mint on Tuesday, 17 February, dismissing earlier reports that he would skip the event.
Bill Gates is listed among the technology executives, industry leaders, policymakers, founders and technologists on the summit’s official website, with the event set to run from February 16 to 20. However, his name was not visible on the website on Tuesday, fuelling speculation about his participation.
Earlier in the day, multiple media reports claimed Bill Gates would not attend the summit, citing officials. Some, including Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi, shared screenshots suggesting that Gates’ name has been removed from ‘Key Attendees (Visionaries on the Global Stage)’ of the Summit website. The reports suggested the alleged decision was taken, on Gates being named in newly released files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
While the name appeared on the website’s ‘Key Attendees’ list until Monday, it was not there on Tuesday, confirming speculation. When contacted, a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation told Mint that “media reports claiming that Bill Gates will not be attending the AI Impact Summit are incorrect.”
“He is participating as planned and will be delivering his keynote as scheduled,” the Foundation said.
Chaturved even thanked the Ministry of Electronics & IT, the event host, for ‘dropping’ Bill Gates’ name from the list.
India AI Impact Summit
Bill Gates is among the global tech leaders attending the AI Impact summit, which started on Monday in Delhi.
Bill Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims. However, records released by the US Department of Justice include an allegation by Epstein that Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease. A spokesperson for Gates has described the claim as “absolutely absurd”.
The uncertainty over Bill Gates’s presence comes days after Nvidia said its chief executive, Jensen Huang, would no longer travel to India for the summit. Huang had been billed as one of the event’s major draws. While Nvidia did not provide a reason for the change, some speculation had linked his withdrawal to Gates’s expected presence at the summit.
Bill Gates arrived in Andhra Pradesh on Monday, where he met top leaders, including Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu.
