British News Agency

The Gates Foundation said the decision was made after a “careful consideration” and in order to “ensure focus on the summit’s core priorities,” but did not provide further details.

Gates’ withdrawal came amid renewed debate over his ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, after his name appeared in new files released by the U.S. Department of Justice in January.

A spokesperson for Gates described the claims in the files as “absolutely absurd and completely false,” and the billionaire has said he regrets spending time with Epstein.

Gates has not been accused of any wrongdoing by any of Epstein’s victims, and the appearance of his name in the files does not imply any criminal activity.

The Gates Foundation announced that Ankur Vora, head of its Africa and India offices, will speak at the summit in place of Gates.

Gates’ withdrawal represents a setback for the summit, which India has promoted as a flagship meeting aimed at positioning the country as a global artificial intelligence hub.

However, other prominent speakers scheduled for Thursday include OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

In their remarks, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron called for the democratization of artificial intelligence and a shared approach to innovation.