NEW DELHI: Bill Gates has cancelled his scheduled keynote address at a major artificial intelligence summit in India, his foundation announced Thursday, saying the decision was made to ensure the focus remains on the event’s core agenda amid renewed scrutiny linked to the Epstein files.
“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 said in a statement.
The foundation reaffirmed its commitment to its ongoing work in India, stating: “The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several leading technology executives are scheduled to address the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, focusing on both the opportunities and risks posed by artificial intelligence.
The foundation said the president overseeing its Africa and India offices would speak in Gates’ place, according to AFP.
The decision follows renewed attention on Gates’ past association with the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after a fresh tranche of documents was released by the US Justice Department.
The newly released documents include emails involving prominent figures and Epstein, revealing what appear to be friendly exchanges, references to financial dealings and private communications. In one draft email contained in the files, Epstein alleged that Gates had engaged in extramarital affairs.
Epstein wrote that his relationship with Gates allegedly ranged from “helping Bill to get drugs, in order to deal with consequences of sex with Russian girls, to facilitating his illicit trysts, with married women.”
However, the mere mention of an individual’s name in the Epstein files does not, in itself, imply wrongdoing.
Earlier this month, Gates expressed regret over his past association with Epstein. “Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologize,” Gates told Australia’s 9News in an interview.
Addressing the draft email referenced in the latest documents, Gates said: “That email was never sent. The email is false. I don’t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?”
A spokesperson for Gates issued a similar denial after the release of what was described as a fresh cache of millions of files connected to the Epstein investigation. Epstein died by suicide in prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
“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,” the spokesperson said.
Gates’ former wife, Melinda French Gates, also commented publicly following the document release. Speaking to US National Public Radio, she said the disclosures revived “memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage.”
“Whatever questions remain there of what – I can’t even begin to know all of it – those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband. They need to answer to those things, not me,” she said. Bill and Melinda Gates divorced in 2021, ending their 27-year marriage.
The AI Impact Summit in New Delhi continues with global leaders and industry figures discussing governance, innovation and ethical challenges surrounding artificial intelligence, even as the controversy surrounding Gates draws parallel public attention.
