Bill Gates a no-show at India AI summit

Bill Gates pulled out of India's AI Impact Summit hours before his scheduled keynote address on Thursday, dealing another blow to ​a flagship event already marred by organisational lapses, a robot bungle and delegate complaints over traffic disruptions.



The Gates Foundation ⁠said the billionaire will not deliver his address "to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit's key priorities".



Only days ago, the foundation had dismissed rumours of his absence and insisted he was on track to attend.



Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to address the event on Thursday, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.



Gates' absence, followed by another high-profile cancellation by Nvidia's Jensen Huang, adds to a difficult opening for ‌a summit billed ‌as the first major ​artificial intelligence forum in the Global South, where India has sought to position itself as a leading voice in global AI governance.