Bill Gates Attendance Confirmed for India AI Summit 2026 Amid Epstein-Linked Rumour Row

Reports suggesting that Bill Gates would skip the upcoming India AI Impact Summit 2026 created a lot of confusion this morning on February 17. However, the Gates Foundation quickly clarified that the Microsoft co-founder will attend the summit and deliver the keynote address on February 19 as originally planned.

The clarification ended hours of speculation that had spread across media platforms and social media.

Earlier today, the confusion began when Bill Gates' name briefly disappeared from the participant list on the summit's official website around 12:15 PM IST. This led to rumours that he had withdrawn from the India AI summit 2026.

Some early media reports and unnamed government sources also suggested that Gates might not attend. But the Gates Foundation denied these claims, calling them incorrect and confirming that his schedule is unchanged.

After the clarification, Gates is now listed alongside global tech leaders such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman & Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Role of Epstein-Related Documents in Rumours

Speculation around Gates' participation also increased after recent U.S. Department of Justice documents related to Jeffrey Epstein mentioned Gates' past meetings with Epstein.

However, according to reports, no wrongdoing was alleged against Gates and he has repeatedly said the association was a mistake. Despite this, some political voices and media discussions in India questioned his invitation, which further fueled rumours that organisers might reconsider his participation.

About the India AI Impact Summit 2026

The India AI Impact Summit will be held on February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi under the Government of India's IndiaAI Mission.
The event is going to show India's growing influence in artificial intelligence, with discussions focused on AI governance, healthcare innovation, education, job creation and inclusive growth for developing nations. The AI Impact summit will attract participation from 20 head of states, 50+ ministers from 100+ countries' delegations, 3,250 speakers, 600 startups, 12 indigenous AI models in 22 Indian languages as per the event schedule