Microsoft founder Bill Gates canceled his keynote speech at India’s flagship AI summit, which was scheduled for Thursday, hours earlier.
The Gates Foundation said in a statement that Gates, who is under renewed scrutiny over his past relationship with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, declined “to ensure the AI Summit remains focused on its key priorities.”
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The five-day India AI Impact Summit 2026 aims to showcase India’s ambitions in the fast-growing sector, with the country expected to attract more than $200 billion in investments over the next two years.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi touted the summit as an opportunity for India to shape the future of AI, and it attracted high-profile attendees including French President Emmanuel Macron and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Instead, it has been dogged by controversy, from Gates’ sudden departure to an Indian university’s attempt to pass off a Chinese-made robot dog as its own innovation.
So what went wrong at India’s flagship AI gathering and why has it attracted so much scrutiny?
Why did Gates’ appearance become a problem?
Bill Gates was scheduled to give a short but high-profile speech highlighting the opportunities and risks posed by artificial intelligence.
But several opposition figures and Indian media commentators have voiced their opinions in recent weeks, questioning whether Epstein’s presence was appropriate after emails were published in late January that included his name in Epstein’s files.
Despite the arguments, everything seemed to be going according to plan at the beginning of the week. On Tuesday, the Gates Foundation’s India office posted on X that Gates would attend the summit and “deliver the keynote address as scheduled.”
On Thursday, hours before his scheduled speech, Gates issued a statement saying, “After careful consideration, and to maintain focus on the key priorities of the AI Summit, Mr. Gates will not deliver the keynote address.”
The paper added that Ankur Vora, director of the Gates Foundation’s Africa and India office, will speak on his behalf.
What is the alleged relationship between Epstein and Gates?
Bill Gates was named in Epstein-related documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January.
In draft emails included in the documents, Epstein claimed that Gates engaged in extramarital affairs and asked for help sourcing drugs “to deal with the consequences of having sex with a Russian girl.”
It is unclear whether Mr. Epstein actually sent the email, and Mr. Gates has denied any wrongdoing.
The Gates Foundation said in a statement to the New York Times that the allegations are “completely absurd and completely false.”
What does the Indian government say?
There are very few.
Despite criticism and calls for clarification from opposition parties about Gates’ invitation, the Indian government has not directly addressed the controversy that led to Gates’ resignation.
Anonymous government officials told local media he would not attend the summit, but officials offered little explanation as to why.
Asked about Gates’ participation, Information Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw declined to give reporters a clear answer, while Modi did not address the issue in public remarks.
Why is the Epstein file a sensitive topic for India?
The controversy over Gates’ plans to participate comes on the heels of a series of revelations in the Epstein file that have put the Modi government at a disadvantage.
In an email to an unidentified individual he referred to only as “Jaboor Y,” Epstein referenced Modi’s historic visit to Israel in July 2017, the first by an Indian prime minister.
Epstein wrote: “Indian Prime Minister Modi took his advice and danced and sang for the US President in Israel. They had met a few weeks earlier. It went well!”
Modi’s visit to Israel and subsequent support for President Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has strengthened military, intelligence and other ties over the past decade, had already drawn criticism from the opposition Congress Party and others, who accused him of reversing decades of India’s support for the Palestinian cause. India became the first non-Arab country to recognize the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1974, but did not establish full diplomatic relations with Israel until 1992.
But Epstein’s emails have fueled opposition criticism of Prime Minister Modi’s Israel policy, and there are now questions about whether it was influenced by the US government.
India’s foreign ministry dismissed Epstein’s emails in an unusually sharply worded statement.
“Aside from the fact of the Prime Minister’s official visit to Israel in July 2017, the rest of the references in the email are nothing more than the idle ruminations of a convicted criminal and deserve to be dismissed with the utmost contempt,” Spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said.
However, the Epstein cloud continues to linger over India.
The files also show that Hardeep Singh Puri, India’s current oil minister, exchanged dozens of emails with Epstein after he joined Prime Minister Modi’s People’s Party in 2014.
In many of these cases, Mr. Puig appears to have enlisted Mr. Epstein’s help in getting US investors, including LinkedIn’s Reid Hoffman, to visit India. Other writings seem to suggest that he had a fairly comfortable personal relationship with Epstein.
For example, in December 2014, Ms. Puri wrote, “Please contact me when you return from your exotic island,” and asked him to set up a meeting where she could give Mr. Epstein some books to “generate interest in India.”
Mr Puri claimed in a new press conference that he had only met Mr Epstein “three or four times”, but Congressional supporters said the emails suggested a closer relationship.
Mr. Gates’ activities in India
The Gates Foundation has long been a key partner in India’s public health and development sectors, supporting mass vaccination drives, disease prevention campaigns, and hygiene programs.
At the same time, there were some vocal critics of Gates, including environmental activist Vandana Shiva, who argued that Gates’ brand of “philanthropic imperialism” uses wealth to control the world’s food system.
Gates also faced intense criticism after he said in a 2024 podcast, while discussing development programs and the foundation’s work in India, that India was “a kind of laboratory to try things out, and if we can prove it here, we can take it elsewhere.”
Robot dog “Orion” and other controversies
Beyond the fallout over the cancellation of Bill Gates’ keynote speech, the AI Impact Summit has faced several controversies.
One incident involved a robotic dog named Orion, a unique innovation by Galgotias University, based in Greater Noida, a city on the outskirts of New Delhi.
Online users quickly identified the machine as an off-the-shelf Chinese model, and organizers asked the group to clear the exhibition site.
According to local media, the event faced logistical problems on its first day, including long lines and confusing admission procedures, which also drew criticism.
On Wednesday, large crowds were seen walking for several miles after police blocked roads to allow VIP access.
Dhananjay Yadav, the CEO of a company exhibiting high-tech wearables, made headlines on social media when he reported that a device had been stolen from his company’s booth.
The Times of India later reported that two maintenance workers attending the event were arrested on suspicion of stealing wearable devices.
