Bill Gates cancels AI summit keynote
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates cancelled his keynote address at the AI summit hours before he was due to take stage on Thursday. The move came less than 48 hours after the Gates Foundation had insisted: “Bill Gates is attending the AI Impact Summit. He will be delivering his keynote as scheduled.”
Hours before his keynote, the Gates Foundation posted on X, “The Gates Foundation will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit. 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.”
Gates continues to face questions over his relationship with the deceased child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Government sources on February 17 stated that an invitation extended to Gates for the Summit had been withdrawn, and he will not be participating in the summit, which started on February 16. The same day, his name went missing from the key participants’ list. Government sources had previously stated that Gates will not attend the Summit as his name figures in the files relating to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, and may create some discomfort.
Meanwhile, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta’s Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, Sarvam co-founder Pratyush Kumar, and Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis, among other tech leaders, attended the summit.
Gates arrived in India on Monday. His first stop during the visit was Vijayawada, where he met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan, and senior state government officials. Ministers Nara Lokesh, Vangalapudi Anitha, K Archannaidu, and Y Satya Kumar welcomed Gates at the Vijayawada international airport on Monday.
