Bill Gates pulls out of India AI summit keynote; Here’s who will represent the Gates Foundation instead

Bill Gates steps back from delivering the keynote at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, with Ankur Vora representing the Gates Foundation amid global attention on India’s AI leadership vision.

New Delhi: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will not be speaking at India’s India AI Impact Summit this week after all, as announced by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation hours before the planned keynote.

Bill Gates Stepping Aside at Summit for India: What You Need to Know

Hours before Bill Gates was slated to give a speech at the summit in New Delhi this week, a global summit convening heads of state, major leaders in artificial intelligence, and policymakers, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation released a statement saying that Ankur Vora, president of the foundation for Africa and India, would take Gates’ place at the podium.

Introducing Ankur Vora: Bill Gates’ Replacement at India Summit

Vora was born in India and raised there. After receiving degrees in economics and engineering from institutions in India, he went on to work for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working in upper management positions of strategy and international leadership since 2013. In the statement provided by the foundation, Bill Gates did not provide a reason for his nonattendance at the conference but said that the decision to not attend came “after careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities.”

Bill Gates Will Not Attend India Summit – But Here’s Who Is

At the India AI Impact Summit itself, PM Modi met with other heads of state, tech giants like Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and OpenAI’s Sam Altman. During his time at the conference, Modi made calls for greater worldwide collaboration to “shape the future of AI in a manner that is ethical and inclusive.”

He went on to tout AI’s potential for improving lives all over the world and pledged to use AI to help India achieve its goals of equality in health care and education, as well as elevating women in the workforce. The pledges were followed by over $2 billion in investments into AI by firms hoping to capitalize on the growing tech economy in India.

Also read: Bill Gates will not speak at AI ​​Summit due to…, who will now lead the Gates Foundation?