Bill Gates leaves India's AI Impact Summit ahead of his keynote address

India's grand AI Impact Summit kicked off earlier today in a groundbreaking manner, followed by Bill Gates' withdrawal just hours before his scheduled keynote address.

His departure reportedly complicated the AI summit which is said to be already struglling organisational issues, a robot controversy, and complaints regarding traffic chaos, Reuters reported.

Despite the huge setback, the six-day summit attracted over $200 billion in investment pledges for AI infrastructure in India, including a significant $110 billion plan announced by Reliance Industries.

One of the remarkable, eventful happenings was the collaboration of India's Tata Group with OpenAI.

Bill Gates' departure from India AI summit

Gates’ leave from the AI summit comes on the heels of another cancellation by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, compounding the challenges for an event which is believed to place India at the forefront of global AI governance.

As per the Gates Foundation, Gates withdrew to focus on the summit's key priorities. It must be noted that a few days earlier, the tech giant dismissed rumours about his absence.

His surprising leave coincides with the U.S. Department of Justice's release of emails showing correspondence between the late Jeffrey Epstein and the Gates Foundation.

Gates stated that his relationship with Epstein was limited to philanthropy and acknowledged that meeting him was a mistake.

Modi's keynote at AI Impact Summit

In his keynote, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted the importance of children's safety on AI platforms.

Modi accompanied prominent tech tycoons on stage, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Google CEO Sundar Pichai, all advocating for a child- and family-guided approach to AI development.

Pointing to a lack of organisation at the event, many renowned attendees expressed frustration over the summit’s organisational issues.