Bill Gates will no longer deliver the keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit, his philanthropic organisation confirmed on Wednesday. The announcement comes amid controversy surrounding the Microsoft co-founder’s name reportedly appearing in documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein. But what is the official stance of the Gates Foundation? In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), the Gates Foundation said the decision was taken to ensure that attention remains on the summit’s central themes.
“After careful consideration, and to keep the focus on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr Gates will not be delivering his keynote address,” the foundation said.
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— Gates Foundation India (@BMGFIndia) February 19, 2026
The organisation added that it remains committed to its ongoing work in India, particularly in the areas of health and development.
Who Will Represent Gates Foundation Instead?
The foundation said it will instead be represented at the New Delhi summit by Ankur Vora, president of its Africa and India offices, who is scheduled to speak later in the day.
The clarification follows several days of speculation after Gates’ name was absent from the official list of prominent participants at the six-day event.
Gates & Epstein Files: What Went Down
Epstein, a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender, died by suicide in a New York jail in August 2019.
Freshly released documents linked to Jeffrey Epstein have placed several prominent figures back under scrutiny, including Bill Gates.
Roughly 3 million pages of Epstein’s personal communications were made public by the US Justice Department, detailing the late financier’s extensive network and interactions with high-profile individuals.
A spokesperson for Bill Gates dismissed the allegations in a statement to NPR, saying, “These claims are absolutely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents demonstrate is Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”
According to the released emails, Epstein made a series of claims about Gates’ alleged personal conduct. In one exchange, Epstein wrote that Gates had approached him to arrange encounters with married women and to obtain medication for an STI he allegedly contracted from “sex with Russian girls.”
Epstein further claimed that Gates sought antibiotics that could be secretly administered to Melinda French Gates. In one particularly hostile message, Epstein wrote, “To add insult to the injury, you then implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your penis.”
The Justice Department’s release sheds light on the breadth of Epstein’s communications and his claims of access to influential business and political figures, though Gates’ representatives strongly deny the accusations.
