Hours before the scheduled speech, Gates Foundation announces decision, to ensure “focus” stays on AI Summit
Under a cloud over his relationship with American sex-offender and investor Jeffery Epstein, Microsoft founder and co-chair of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates pulled out at the last minute from giving an address at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit on Thursday (February 19, 2026).
Mr. Gates was scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the plenary session after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Lula, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other chiefs of AI global majors. He was among the big names expected to attend the conference, and had been billed as one of the “global visionaries” at the event, in the conference publicity material and website.
However, after the latest tranche of files of the disgraced U.S. investor and convicted pedophile were released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 31, 2026, questions have been raised over whether the government would continue to host Mr. Gates, who figures prominently in the files. Although Mr. Gates has repeatedly denied any wrong-doing and regretted the connection with the sex-trafficking businessman, photographs of him and mails found on Epstein’s computer indicated that the two men often spoke and travelled together, and Mr. Gates consulted Epstein over fund-raising for his foundation.
“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,” a statement by the Gates Foundation issued on Thursday (February 19, 2026) morning said, a few hours before the event, adding that the philanthropy remained “fully committed to our work in India to advance shared health and development goals”.
The statement from the Gates Foundation put to rest days of confusion over the issue. Even before the conference began on Monday (February 16, 2026), government departments and the Gates Foundation appeared to be conflicted over whether platforming Mr. Gates would lead to problems over the Epstein issue. On Sunday (February 15, 2026), a day after opposition MP Priyanka Chaturvedi appealed to the government to not allow Mr. Gates to speak at the prestigious event, the AI Impact Website dropped his entry from the list of global visionaries. However, the agenda continued to list him as a keynote speaker on February 19 at 11.50 a.m. during the plenary session.
Mr. Gates arrived in Andhra Pradesh on Monday (February 16, 2026) as planned and met with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and discussed a number of projects including the Amravati city project. In Delhi on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) government sources told PTI news agency and other media organisations that AI summit organisers had a rethink and decided Mr. Gates would be dropped from the speaker line-up. However, the Gates Foundation insisted there was no such plan, and that he would deliver the keynote as the agenda available online stated. When asked by journalists including from The Hindu at a press conference, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Ashwini Vaishnaw gave an evasive response.
“Regarding who’s attending, who’s not attending… that’s personal choices which people make, [about] which we should not comment, and I need not comment on that. If you want to comment, you can comment on your own. But I don’t want to comment on it,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.
On Wednesday (February 18, 2026), Mr. Gates was in Mumbai for a number of official meetings and a closed-door business event, where he reportedly shared his “regrets” over the Epstein issue, but vehemently denied he had been part of any trafficking or solicitation during his meetings, while responding to audience questions.
The cancellation of Mr. Gates’ appearance at the summit in Delhi on Thursday (February 19, 2026), where he was replaced by the President of Gates Foundation’s India and Africa offices Ankur Vohra, was the latest in a series of controversies that organisers have had to contend with, with chaotic crowds, and the case of a Chinese-made robot at a Galgotia university pavilion making international headlines. In parliament last week, the opposition had also questioned the Modi government over the appearance of mails between Epstein and Energy Minister Hardeep Puri from 2014-2017, before he joined the government, and it remains to be seen whether the Gates issue reopens some of the questions over Mr. Puri and other Indians whose names appear in the files.
Bill Gates pulls the curtains on AI Summit controversy, pulls out of keynote address
Hours before the scheduled speech, Gates Foundation announces decision, to ensure “focus” stays on AI Summit
Under a cloud over his relationship with American sex-offender and investor Jeffery Epstein, Microsoft founder and co-chair of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates pulled out at the last minute from giving an address at the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit on Thursday (February 19, 2026).
Mr. Gates was scheduled to deliver a keynote address at the plenary session after Prime Minister Narendra Modi, French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian President Lula, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other chiefs of AI global majors. He was among the big names expected to attend the conference, and had been billed as one of the “global visionaries” at the event, in the conference publicity material and website.
However, after the latest tranche of files of the disgraced U.S. investor and convicted pedophile were released by the U.S. Department of Justice on January 31, 2026, questions have been raised over whether the government would continue to host Mr. Gates, who figures prominently in the files. Although Mr. Gates has repeatedly denied any wrong-doing and regretted the connection with the sex-trafficking businessman, photographs of him and mails found on Epstein’s computer indicated that the two men often spoke and travelled together, and Mr. Gates consulted Epstein over fund-raising for his foundation.
“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,” a statement by the Gates Foundation issued on Thursday (February 19, 2026) morning said, a few hours before the event, adding that the philanthropy remained “fully committed to our work in India to advance shared health and development goals”.
The statement from the Gates Foundation put to rest days of confusion over the issue. Even before the conference began on Monday (February 16, 2026), government departments and the Gates Foundation appeared to be conflicted over whether platforming Mr. Gates would lead to problems over the Epstein issue. On Sunday (February 15, 2026), a day after opposition MP Priyanka Chaturvedi appealed to the government to not allow Mr. Gates to speak at the prestigious event, the AI Impact Website dropped his entry from the list of global visionaries. However, the agenda continued to list him as a keynote speaker on February 19 at 11.50 a.m. during the plenary session.
Mr. Gates arrived in Andhra Pradesh on Monday (February 16, 2026) as planned and met with Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and discussed a number of projects including the Amravati city project. In Delhi on Tuesday (February 17, 2026) government sources told PTI news agency and other media organisations that AI summit organisers had a rethink and decided Mr. Gates would be dropped from the speaker line-up. However, the Gates Foundation insisted there was no such plan, and that he would deliver the keynote as the agenda available online stated. When asked by journalists including from The Hindu at a press conference, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Ashwini Vaishnaw gave an evasive response.
“Regarding who’s attending, who’s not attending… that’s personal choices which people make, [about] which we should not comment, and I need not comment on that. If you want to comment, you can comment on your own. But I don’t want to comment on it,” Mr. Vaishnaw said.
On Wednesday (February 18, 2026), Mr. Gates was in Mumbai for a number of official meetings and a closed-door business event, where he reportedly shared his “regrets” over the Epstein issue, but vehemently denied he had been part of any trafficking or solicitation during his meetings, while responding to audience questions.
The cancellation of Mr. Gates’ appearance at the summit in Delhi on Thursday (February 19, 2026), where he was replaced by the President of Gates Foundation’s India and Africa offices Ankur Vohra, was the latest in a series of controversies that organisers have had to contend with, with chaotic crowds, and the case of a Chinese-made robot at a Galgotia university pavilion making international headlines. In parliament last week, the opposition had also questioned the Modi government over the appearance of mails between Epstein and Energy Minister Hardeep Puri from 2014-2017, before he joined the government, and it remains to be seen whether the Gates issue reopens some of the questions over Mr. Puri and other Indians whose names appear in the files.
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