Bill Gates to skip India AI Impact Summit keynote, Gates Foundation confirms

After days of speculation, Gates Foundation India has confirmed that Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote address at the ongoing India AI Impact Summit 2026. The foundation shared a post on microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) announcing that the Microsoft founder will skip his keynote speech that he was previously scheduled to deliver today, February 19, 2026. There had been uncertainty around Gates’ participation after earlier reports suggested he might not attend the event. The Gates Foundation had subsequently indicated that he would be present, but his name later disappeared from the official AI Impact Summit website, adding to the confusion.

With the latest X post, Gates Foundation India has cleared the air. It stated that the foundation will now be “represented by Ankur Vora, President of Africa and India Offices, who will speak later today at the Summit”.