New Delhi: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates withdrew from the India AI Impact summit on Thursday (February 19), hours before he was scheduled to deliver the keynote address at the mega meet.The development comes amid increased scrutiny on Gates and his philanthropic foundation after the extent of the tech billionaire’s links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein came to light in January.In a statement released on Thursday morning, the Gates Foundation said, “After careful consideration, and to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities, Mr. Gates will not be delivering his keynote address. The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals.”The foundation had confirmed his presence at the summit in a post on X two days ago, after conflicting reports over his participation emerged in the media. While government sources said had told news agency PTI on Tuesday that Gates would not attend the summit, the Gates Foundation had told the agency that he will deliver his keynote address as scheduled.“Bill Gates is attending the AI Impact Summit. He will be delivering his keynote as scheduled. India is a global leader in artificial intelligence, powered by one of the world’s largest AI talent pools, rapid adoption across sectors, and innovation at population scale. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AI has become central to India’s vision of Viksit Bharat, driving inclusive growth and responsible innovation. India’s distinctive public-private model, bringing together government, startups, academia, and industry, is proving that AI can be built for impact, for inclusion, and for the world,” the previous statement had said.Gates and EpsteinAccording to fresh documents released by the US Department of Justice, Gates met Epstein on several occasions after the latter’s prison term. Gates has maintained that the meetings were restricted to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was a mistake for him to meet Epstein.According to the Financial Times, e-mails from an account that appeared to belong to Epstein claimed that Gates tried to hide a sexually transmitted disease from his wife Melinda after having sex with “Russian girls”. A spokesperson for Gates has called the claims “absolutely absurd and completely false”.Epstein was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July 2019. He died by suicide in a New York jail cell in August 2019.