Additional Coverage:
Bill Gates Pulls Out of India AI Summit Amid Epstein Scrutiny
New Delhi, India – Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has withdrawn from his scheduled keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, following weeks of intense scrutiny regarding his alleged connections to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Hours before he was set to speak on Thursday, Gates’ organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, issued a statement to the summit organizers announcing his decision to pull out.
“After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address,” the Gates Foundation stated. Ankur Vora, the foundation’s president of Africa and India offices, spoke in his stead.
This announcement comes on the heels of the Department of Justice’s release of over 3 million emails related to the Epstein investigation, which included some of Epstein’s personal correspondence. Certain emails reportedly alleged that Gates engaged in extramarital affairs and sought medication for a sexually transmitted infection, with claims he intended to administer the medication to his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, without her knowledge.
Gates has previously addressed his association with Epstein, stating in an interview that he was “foolish” to have spent time with him. “I met Jeffrey in 2011,” Gates recounted.
“So, over a period of three years, I had a number of dinners with him. The focus was always, he knew a lot of very rich people, and he was saying he could get them to give money to global health.
You know, in retrospect, that was a dead end.” He reiterated, “I was foolish to spend time with him.
I’m one of many people who regret ever knowing him.”
Melinda French Gates, Gates’ ex-wife, has also weighed in on the allegations, asserting that her former husband needs to provide answers. “Those questions are for those people and for even my ex-husband.
They need the answer to those things, not me. Well, and I am so happy to be away from all the muck,” she commented.