India AI Impact Summit 2026 is in full swing. Many delegates and tech leaders from across the world have landed in the capital city of India. Speaking of tech leaders, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Anthropic’s CEO, and many others have marked their presence in a marquee AI event.
Bill Gates unexpectedly skips India AI Impact Summit keynote
As far as Microsoft is concerned, Bill Gates also landed in India. The Microsoft co-founder, however, has skipped his planned keynote at the ongoing India AI Impact Summit on February 19. Gates was set to deliver a 12-minute address at 11:50 am at Bharat Mandapam.
However, just hours before the keynote, the Gates Foundation announced on X that Microsoft co-founder would not take the stage. Ankur Vora, president of the foundation’s Africa and India offices, reportedly stepped in to speak instead. Bill Gates’ absence in the AI Impact Summit keynote comes at a time when his name is in the news for his past associations with convicted financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, following newly released Epstein files.
While Gates has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called related claims false, the timing of the withdrawal has raised eyebrows. Just two days earlier, the Gates Foundation had assured that he would take part in the keynote as scheduled. That being said, Bill Gates is in India. Earlier this week, he visited Vijayawada, meeting Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and other officials to discuss Gates Foundation-supported projects in health and development.
Absence of Gates won’t change his foundation’s focus in the country
The Gates Foundation has assured that the last-minute withdrawal from the keynote won’t change its focus in India. A part of the foundation’s statement on X reads, “The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals.” All that said, the summit, which has been coined as a major AI showcase for the Global South, is going on without one of its high-profile attendees. It’s unclear whether Bill Gates will rejoin the conversation later in India this week.
Speaking of the India AI Impact Summit, let’s not forget that OpenAI and Reliance have announced a strategic partnership to bring ChatGPT AI search and recommendations to Jio Hotstar, which will benefit 200 million active users on the streaming platform. Meanwhile, Adani has also committed $100 billion to expand renewable-powered AI data centers.
