India AI summit stumbles as Bill Gates pulls out, chaos mounts

NEW DELHI – Bill Gates pulled out of India’s AI Impact Summit hours before his scheduled keynote address on Feb 19, dealing another blow to a flagship event already marred by organisational lapses, a robot bungle and delegate complaints over traffic disruptions.

Mr Gates’ absence, followed by another high-profile cancellation by Nvidia CEO 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 worldwide AI governance.

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.

Mr Gates’ cancellation comes after the US Department of Justice released e-mails in January that included communication between late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the Gates Foundation’s staff.

Mr Gates has said the relationship was confined to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was

a mistake for him to meet with Epstein.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for children’s safety on AI platforms as he addressed the gathering on Feb 19, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.

“We must be even more vigilant about children’s safety. Just as a school syllabus is curated, the AI space should also be child- and family-guided,” Mr Modi said, after standing on stage with top AI executives and posing for photographs with their arms raised in a show of strength.

The photo shoot produced an awkward moment when Mr Altman and Mr Amodei, chiefs of rival AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic, stood side by side on stage but did not hold hands like the rest.

India’s first major AI summit has been marred by management lapses that have left attendees shocked and angry over what they described as a lack of planning by the Indian government.

Chaos and traffic snarls

The summit exhibition halls were shut to the public on Feb 19 in a surprise move that led to more anger among participating companies that had put up stalls and pavilions.

The venue compound was largely deserted after three days of large crowds at the event.

On Feb 18, Indian university Galgotias was asked to vacate its stall after a staff member presented a commercially available robotic dog made in China as its own creation, sparking a public uproar.

Police shut roads to give preference to VIP movement at the summit, creating chaos in the city of 20 million people.

On Feb 18, footage on social media showed scores of attendees at the summit walking for miles in central Delhi as roads were shut for traffic, with no taxis available and no shuttle services arranged.

Reposting one such video, opposition leader Mahua Moitra wrote on X that the poor management had besmirched India’s reputation globally.

Still, there has been more than US$100 billion (S$127 billion) of investment in India AI projects pledged during the summit, including from the Adani Group conglomerate, tech giant Microsoft, and data centre firm Yotta.

The Indian government has said it expects total pledges to exceed US$200 billion in the next two years, although analysts have warned the rapid build-out risks straining India’s power grid and water supply. REUTERS