Why is Bill Gates not speaking at India AI Impact Summit even though he was invited? 2 issues explained
India Today
It's official. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is not delivering his keynote at the India AI Impact Summit. In fact, Gates has been conspicuously absent on the morning of Thursday when global government and tech leaders gathered at Bharat Mandapam. But why? We explain.
It is official. Bill Gates is not delivering his keynote at the India AI Impact Summit. In fact, there are indications, as hinted by his absence from the official stage photo session, that he is also possibly not present at the summit.
This is big departure from his earlier plans. The AI Impact Summit is a global stage. Some of the biggest tech leaders are here. Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and so many others. It is also a remarkable departure from a few days ago when Gates was posing in public functions with Andhra Pradesh government officials in Amravati. So, what happened? Well, a strong backlash linked to Epstein Files. And a few comments Gates made in 2024.
On Thursday morning, after some confusion over he-will-and-he-won’t, the Gates Foundation made it clear that the Microsoft co-founder will not be delivering his keynote. “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,” notes the statement from Gates Foundation. “The Gates Foundation will be represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit.”
The Thursday morning statement from the Gates Foundation marked a sharp departure from its almost combative stance a few days ago. When reports surfaced that Bill Gates would no longer be delivering keynote address, with the speculation sparked by removal of his name and photo from the speaker list on the Summit website, the Foundation pushed back. It said that Gates would deliver his keynote. On Thursday, the stance changed again.
What happened? Although, there is no official word from either Gates Foundation or from the India AI Impact Summit, chances are that the strong social media backlash against Gates forced the change. When asked, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had earlier responded, “I forgot (like) many other things, regarding who's attending, who's not attending... That is personal choices which people make... I need not comment on that.”
This all started a few days ago when Gates landed in Amravati. Ahead of coming to India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, Gates visited Andhra Pradesh, where he was received by Minister Nara Lokesh. On X aka Twitter, soon Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu posted photos with Gates, welcoming him. “I am proud of our farmers, who are at the forefront of adopting technology while honouring our traditions. We shared a glimpse of this with Mr Gates in Undavalli today. He was given a traditional welcome,” Naidu wrote on X.
It's official. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is not delivering his keynote at the India AI Impact Summit. In fact, Gates has been conspicuously absent on the morning of Thursday when global government and tech leaders gathered at Bharat Mandapam. But why? We explain.
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