NEW DELHI, Feb 19 (Reuters) -

Bill Gates pulled out of India's AI Impact Summit hours

before his scheduled keynote address on Thursday, dealing

another blow to a flagship event ​already marred by

organisational lapses, a robot bungle and delegate ‌complaints

over traffic disruptions.

The Gates Foundation said the billionaire will not deliver

his address "to ensure the focus remains on the AI Summit's ⁠key

priorities".

Only days ago, the foundation had dismissed rumours of his

absence and insisted he was ⁠on track to attend.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to ‌address the

event on Thursday, ‌alongside French President Emmanuel Macron,

Google CEO Sundar Pichai, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic

CEO Dario Amodei.

Gates' absence, followed by ​another high-profile

cancellation by Nvidia's Jensen Huang, adds to ‌a difficult

opening for a summit billed as the first major artificial

intelligence forum in the Global South, where India has sought

to position itself as a ​leading voice in global AI governance.

Gates' cancellation ​comes after ‌the U.S. Department of

Justice released emails last month that included communication

between late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey

Epstein and the Gates Foundation's staff.

The documents indicate Gates and ⁠Epstein met repeatedly

after Epstein's prison term to discuss expanding Gates'

philanthropic efforts. Gates has ⁠said the relationship was

confined to philanthropy-related discussions and that it was a

mistake for him to meet Epstein.

The Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organisation started

by Microsoft ( MSFT ) co-founder Bill Gates and his then-wife in

2000, is one of the world's biggest funders of global health

initiatives.

CHAOS AND TRAFFIC SNARLS

India's ⁠first major ‌AI summit has not dominated news

headlines for the products on display, ‌but for

management lapses

that have left attendees shocked and angry over what they

described as a lack ⁠of planning by the Indian government.

The summit exhibition halls were shut to the public on

Thursday in a surprise move that led to more anger among

attendees.

On Wednesday, Indian university Galgotias was asked to

vacate its stall

after a staff member presented a commercially available

robotic dog made in China as its own creation.

Chaos has gripped the city, with people on social media

complaining of traffic snarls as police shut roads ​to give

preference to VIP movement.

On Wednesday, footage on social media showed scores of

attendees at the summit walking for miles in central Delhi as

roads were shut for traffic, with no availability ​of taxis and

no shuttle services arranged.