Bill Gates pulls out of India AI summit; anger mounts over organisational lapses
By Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra
NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Bill Gates withdrew from India’s AI Impact Summit hours before his scheduled keynote on Thursday, dealing another blow to the flagship event already marred by complaints about organizational glitches, robot fighting and traffic chaos.
Another high-profile cancellation follows Gates’ absence NvidiaJensen Huang contributes to the challenging opening of what is being billed as the first major summit artificial intelligence The forum in the Global South where India is trying to position itself as the leading voice in AI governance globally.
The Gates Foundation said the billionaire would not give the speech “to ensure focus on the key priorities of the AI Summit.” Just a few days ago the foundation had denied rumors of his absence and insisted he was on track to join.
Gates’ revocation comes after the U.S. Department of Justice last month released emails containing communications between late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Gates Foundation staff.
Gates said the relationship was limited to discussions about philanthropy and that meeting Epstein was a mistake for him.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the safety of children on artificial intelligence platforms in his speech at the meeting on Thursday along with French President Emmanuel Macron, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei.
“We must be even more careful about the safety of children. Just like a school curriculum, the field of artificial intelligence should be guided by the child and the family,” Modi said, after standing on stage with senior AI executives and posing for a photo with his arms raised in a show of power. he said.
The photo shoot created an awkward moment as Altman and Amodei, chiefs of rival AI firms OpenAI and Anthropic, stood side by side on stage but did not hold hands, although others did.
India’s first major AI summit has been marred by governance glitches that left attendees stunned and angry over what they described as a lack of planning by the Indian government.
CHAOS AND TRAFFIC PROBLEMS
Summit exhibition halls were closed to the public in a surprise move on Thursday, sparking further anger among exhibitors who set up stands and pavilions.
After three days of huge crowds at the event, the venue was largely deserted.
On Wednesday, Indian university Galgotias was asked to vacate its stand after a staff member presented a commercially available robot dog made in China as his own creation, sparking a public uproar.
Police created chaos in the city of 20 million by blocking roads to prioritize VIP movement during the summit.
On Wednesday, images on social media showed scores of summit participants walking for miles in central Delhi as roads were closed to traffic, no taxis were available and no shuttle service had been arranged.
Reposting one such video, opposition leader Mahua Moitra wrote to X that mismanagement has tarnished India’s global reputation.
Still, during the summit, more than $100 billion was pledged to invest in AI projects in India, including from conglomerate Adani Group, tech giant Microsoft and data center firm Yotta.
The Indian government has said it expects total commitments to exceed $200 billion over the next two years, but analysts have warned that rapid growth risks straining India’s power grid and water supply.
(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil, Aditya Kalra in New Delhi; Additional reporting by Aditya Soni, Sakshi Dayal and Abhirami G; Editing by Kim Coghill, Muralikumar Anantharaman and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
