A day after the Gates Foundation announced that Bill Gates would deliver the keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, the organisation reversed its decision on Thursday, saying the Microsoft founder would skip the event “after careful consideration.”
Bill Gates, who is in the eye of the storm over his alleged links mentioned in the Epstein files, was scheduled to deliver his keynote address today at Bharat Mandapam.
“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.
The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals,” The Gates Foundation stated.
Interestingly, the latest U-turn comes just a day after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation dismissed speculation about his attendance, stating that the Microsoft founder “will be delivering his keynote as scheduled.”
The announcement comes against the backdrop of the tech billionaire facing growing scrutiny and online backlash over his name appearing several times in documents linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, who died in prison in 2019.
Earlier this week, the Andhra Pradesh government rolled out the red carpet for Gates at Gannavaram Airport, with Nara Lokesh and other cabinet colleagues in attendance.
“Welcome to Amaravati, Mr Bill Gates. It was a pleasure to receive the Chair of the Gates Foundation at Gannavaram Airport today,” Lokesh said in a post on X.
However, Gates’s India visit drew its share of controversy, with several people taking to social media to target him over his alleged links to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and accusing him of treating “India as a testing lab for his products and Indians like lab rats.”
Gates has already dismissed the allegations linked to the Epstein files as “absolutely absurd and completely false.”
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Published By:
Prateek Chakraborty
Published On:
Feb 19, 2026
