AI Impact Summit: Gates foundation confirms Bill Gates’ participation amid reports of name being dropped

Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates will attend the India AI Impact Summit 2026 and deliver his keynote address as scheduled, a Gates Foundation spokesperson confirmed on Tuesday amid reports about his name being dropped from the official Global Visionaries list of the summit.

“Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation, is attending the India AI Impact Summit. He will be delivering his keynote as scheduled,” the Gates Foundation spokesperson said in a statement.

Advertisement

The clarification from the Gates Foundation came shortly after reports claimed that his name had been removed from the Global Visionaries list of the India AI Impact Summit 2026, which is being held from February 16 to 20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

As per the reports, Gates was initially listed among key participants alongside OpenAI’s Sam Altman and Google’s Sundar Pichai. The billionaire-philanthropist even arrived in India, but his name was struck off at the last moment to avoid controversy, the reports claimed.

Earlier on Monday, Gates received a warm welcome in Amaravati by Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh and other Cabinet colleagues at Gannavaram Airport.

“Welcome to Amaravati, Mr. Bill Gates. It was a pleasure to receive the Chair of the Gates Foundation at Gannavaram Airport today,” Lokesh said in a post on X. The visit, however, sparked criticism with the Opposition Congress slamming the Andhra Government for hosting the Microsoft co-founder despite his links with Epstein.

“His name has appeared multiple times in the Epstein files, along with photos. After knowing all this, anyone should avoid meeting him,” Congress leader Anup Dhote said.

Thank you for the warm welcome, @ncbn. It’s exciting to witness Andhra Pradesh’s growth being accelerated through AI, technology, and innovations across health, agriculture & education. https://t.co/m0qGFsVmMx

— Bill Gates (@BillGates) February 16, 2026

What are the allegations against Bill Gates?

According to the latest batch of Epstein files released by the US Justice Department, an email mentions Bill purchasing medicines “to deal with the consequences of sex with Russian girls”. As per the allegations, Gates contracted a sexually transmitted disease and hid the infection from his then-wife, Melinda Gates. Melinda divorced Bill Gates in 2021.

Meanwhile, Gates has denied the allegations, terming them “absolutely absurd and completely false”. He, however, has admitted to his meetings with Epstein but denied having any links to the latter’s criminal activities.