NEW DELHI — Bill Gates skipped his scheduled keynote at the AI Impact Summit in India on Thursday, prompting questions about timing amid fresh scrutiny over his past ties to Jeffrey Epstein. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced the Microsoft co-founder’s absence, stating it aimed to ‘ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit’s key priorities.’

Just days earlier, the foundation had quashed rumors of a no-show, confirming Gates planned to attend. Now, his pullout lands against a backdrop of backlash from emails unsealed last month by the U.S. Department of Justice. Those documents reveal communications between Epstein, the late financier convicted of sex trafficking, and Gates Foundation staff.

Gates has long described his Epstein encounters as limited to philanthropy talks. He called the meetings a mistake, focused on tapping Epstein’s rich contacts for global health funding. In a recent interview with Australia’s Nine News, Gates addressed a particularly explosive 2013 email Epstein drafted but never sent to one of Gates’ advisors.

The email, riddled with typos, accused Gates of contracting a sexually transmitted disease and seeking antibiotics to secretly dose his then-wife, Melinda. It read in part: ‘TO add insult to injury you then implore me to please delete the emails regarding your std, your request that I provide you antibiotics that you can surreptitiously give to Melinda and the description of your [expletive].’ Epstein expressed dismay over Gates allegedly disregarding their six-year friendship.

Gates dismissed the claims outright. ‘Apparently, Jeffrey wrote an email to himself. That email was never sent. The email is, you know, false,’ he told Nine News. He reiterated regrets over their dinners — he insists no island visits or meetings with women occurred. ‘Every minute that I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise that I did that.’

Melinda Gates, divorced from Bill since 2021, weighed in earlier this month on NPR’s Wild Card podcast. She urged those named in Epstein documents, including her ex-husband, to speak publicly. ‘I think we’re having a reckoning as a society, right? No girl should ever be put in the situation that they were put in by Epstein and whatever was going on with all of the various people around him,’ she said.

Melinda, 61, called the victims’ ordeals ‘beyond heartbreaking,’ drawing from her own memories of those ages and her daughters’. She cited Gates’ Epstein association as a factor in their split, though details remain sparse. Reports from The Wall Street Journal indicate she hired lawyers in 2019 after learning of his repeated meetings with Epstein — encounters Gates had previously downplayed publicly.

A Gates spokesman labeled the email allegations ‘absolutely absurd and completely false.’ The documents, he said, only highlight Epstein’s failed bid for a lasting Gates connection and his efforts to entrap or defame. Gates, with a net worth placing him among the world’s richest, has faced no criminal charges tied to Epstein.

The AI Impact Summit proceeded without Gates. Organizers did not immediately comment on a replacement speaker. Gates’ foundation continues its global health work, undeterred by the episode.