Epstein scrutiny shadows India AI summit as Bill Gates drops keynote hours before

By Tahani Elghazaly
Published February 19, 2026

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Bill Gates withdrew from a scheduled keynote at India’s AI Impact Summit in New Delhi just hours before he was due to appear, as public scrutiny resurfaced over his past links to Jeffrey Epstein following the release of U.S. Justice Department emails involving communications between Epstein and Gates Foundation staff.

The Gates Foundation said the change was made to keep attention on the summit’s goals, and said a senior foundation official, Ankur Vora, would speak in Gates’ place. The organisation did not confirm whether the decision was directly connected to the Epstein-related scrutiny.

Gates’ withdrawal added to pressure on a high-profile, multi-day event India has promoted as a Global South platform on AI policy and investment. Reuters reported the summit drew more than $200 billion in AI-related investment pledges, including large commitments announced by Reliance Industries and Adani, alongside a Tata-OpenAI partnership.

The summit has also faced other high-profile absences, including Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, who cancelled his trip to the event earlier in the week, according to Reuters.