Bill Gates has declined to give the keynote speech at the AI Summit in India on Thursday, his foundation announced. Billionaire Bill Gates is facing intense scrutiny over his ties to the late convicted criminal Jeffrey Epstein.
“After careful consideration, Mr. Gates will not deliver the keynote address to maintain focus on the key priorities of the AI Summit,” the Gates Foundation said in a statement hours before Mr. Gates was scheduled to speak.
The reason for the sudden withdrawal was not disclosed.
CNN has reached out to the Gates Foundation, India Gates Foundation and summit organizers for comment.
The Microsoft founder has come under fire in recent weeks over two recently released draft emails that appear to have been written to him, alleging that Epstein facilitated sexual encounters with Gates and helped him obtain drugs to hide sexually transmitted infections from his wife.
It is not clear who drafted the 2013 messages stored in Epstein’s email account, but they were addressed by Epstein to himself.
Gates strongly denied these claims, calling them “false.”
The tech billionaire was scheduled to speak at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, which is touted as one of the largest AI conferences in the Global South. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began the summit on Thursday morning.
Gates is in India this week ahead of a scheduled speech.
On Tuesday, Gates met with Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and thanked him for the “warm welcome” given to the Indian politician, according to a post on his X account.
India’s Gates Foundation had confirmed Gates’ attendance at the AI Impact Summit just two days ago.
“Bill Gates will be attending the AI Impact Summit. He is scheduled to deliver the keynote address as scheduled,” the organization posted on Tuesday.
In a statement on Thursday, the foundation announced that Ankur Bora, head of its Africa and India office, will now represent it at the summit.
email and communication
A newly released set of Epstein-related files casts a new shadow on Gates’ relationship with the convicted sex offender, revealing a series of graphic, unconfirmed allegations and a degree of philanthropic alignment between the two men in more detail than previously known.
The emails were released as part of the Justice Department’s latest release of files on notorious sex offenders involving dozens of wealthy and powerful people around the world.
The files include numerous other emails between Epstein and Gates that show them discussing meeting arrangements and Gates’ philanthropy. All documented interactions with Gates occurred after Epstein was convicted in 2008 on prostitution-related charges.
Gates strongly denies the claims and Gates’ representatives, previously telling CNN: “These allegations are completely absurd and completely false. The only thing these documents show is Mr. Epstein’s dissatisfaction with not having an ongoing relationship with Mr. Gates and his intent to entrap and smear him. “While we acknowledge that this was a serious error in judgment, we unequivocally deny any wrongdoing in connection with Mr. Epstein and his horrific activities.” Mr. Epstein was implicated, and Mr. Gates never visited Mr. Epstein’s island, never attended a party with Mr. Epstein, and was not involved in any illegal activity related to Mr. Epstein. ”
Gates was later asked about the latest documents in an interview with Australia’s CNN affiliate Nine News.
“Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. You know, that email is false. So I don’t know what he was thinking. I just remember that every minute I spent with him, I regret it and I apologize for what I did,” Gates said.
He added: “It’s true that I only attended the dinner. I’ve never been to the island. I’ve never met the woman. So the more that comes out, the more obvious it will be that the time was wrong, but it had nothing to do with that kind of behavior.”
