Bill Gates past links with a convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein have forced him to walkout of India’s Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit.
The damaging Epstein relationship, Gates has previously described as a “huge mistake”.
Bill Gates was scheduled to present a key note speech to participants at the Summit.
India’s AI summit, but with Gates’s absence attention shifts, at least briefly, from AI investment and innovation to reputational risk management.
Bill Gates will be represented at the Summit by the foundation’s India and Africa head.
The Gates Foundation said the decision was made “after careful consideration” to keep the spotlight on the event’s priorities.
Jeffrey Edward Epstein, was an American financier and child sex offender, who was indicted for sex trafficking but died before his trial.
The Gates foundation CEO Mark Suzman recently acknowledged that Bill Gates links with Epstein had “sullied” the organization’s reputation.
Despite the Epstein saga, Microsoft has reiterated its own U$50 billion commitment to expanding AI across the global south, a reminder that money and momentum behind the AI race continue apace.
Epstein made much of his fortune by providing tax and estate services to billionaires, and cultivated an elite social circle.
He procured underage girls and young women who were raped by him and, allegedly, some of his associates.
