Govt sources, foundation offer conflicting claims on Bill Gates’ AI Summit attendance

New Delhi: Confusion surrounded the participation of Bill Gates at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi after government sources said he would not attend while a spokesperson for his foundation stated that he would.

Gates had been listed among technology leaders, policymakers and industry figures scheduled to speak at the AI Impact Summit taking place in the capital from February 16 to 20. His name, however, did not appear among key speakers on the event website on Tuesday.

Government sources said Gates would not be attending the summit.

A spokesperson for his foundation said in an emailed response, “Bill Gates is attending the AI Impact Summit. He will be delivering his keynote as scheduled.” He had been listed to deliver a keynote on February 19 at 11.50 hours.

Government sources suggesting that Gates would not attend may be linked to his name appearing in files related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates has not been accused of wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims, though records released by the US justice department include an allegation by Epstein that Gates had contracted a sexually transmitted disease. Gates’s spokesperson has previously called the claim “absolutely absurd”.

Separately, Jensen Huang, chief executive of Nvidia, is also not travelling to India for the summit. The company did not provide a reason, though some had linked the move to Gates’s expected presence.

Gates arrived in India earlier in the week and visited Vijayawada, where he met Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan and senior state officials.