Bill Gates has pulled out of India's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Impact Summit just hours before he was due to deliver a keynote address today, dealing a fresh blow to a flagship event already marred by organizational lapses, a row over robots and complaints about traffic chaos, Reuters reports.
Gates' absence, followed by another high-profile cancellation by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, further complicated the start of the summit, which was billed as the first major AI forum in the Global South, where India is seeking to position itself as a leading voice in global AI governance.
The Gates Foundation said the billionaire would not give a speech "to ensure the focus remains on the key priorities of the AI Summit." Just days earlier, the foundation had dismissed rumors of his absence and insisted he was still scheduled to attend.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for child safety on AI platforms while addressing a gathering today, along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropik CEO Dario Amodei.
"We need to be even more vigilant when it comes to child safety. Just as a school curriculum is carefully crafted, the AI space should be child and family-led," Modi said, after standing on stage with top AI executives and posing for photos with his hands raised in a show of strength, Reuters reported.
The photo shoot produced an awkward moment when Altman and Amodei, the heads of rival AI companies OpenAI and Antropik, stood next to each other on stage but did not hold hands, although other executives did.
India's first major AI summit was marred by organizational lapses that shocked and angered attendees, who described it as a lack of planning by the Indian government.
Chaos and traffic collapses
Gates' resignation comes after the US Department of Justice last month released emails containing communications between the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Gates Foundation staff.
Gates said the relationship was limited to philanthropic discussions and that it was a mistake to meet with Epstein.
The summit's exhibition halls were suddenly closed to the public today, sparking further anger among participating companies that had set up booths and pavilions. The venue complex was largely deserted after three days of huge crowds at the event.
India's Galgotias University has been ordered to remove its booth after an employee presented a commercially available robotic dog made in China as his own creation, sparking a public outcry.
Police repeatedly closed roads to allow VIPs to pass through, causing chaos in Delhi, a city of 20 million people. The Indian government apologized for the inconvenience caused to participants in the first few days.
But on Wednesday, footage on social media showed dozens of participants walking for miles through central Delhi as roads were closed, taxis were not available, and shuttle services were not organized.
Opposition parties attacked the government and the prime minister for their mismanagement of the global summit.
"How can you expect your engineers, AI people, to walk such distances... And then we complain that entrepreneurs are leaving India," said Pawan Kera, a spokesperson for the Congress party.
Despite everything, more than $100 billion in investment in AI projects in India was pledged during the summit, including investments from conglomerate Adani Group, technology giant Microsoft, and data center company Jota.
The Indian government has said it expects total commitments to exceed $200 billion over the next two years, although analysts have warned that rapid construction could strain India's power grid and water supply.
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