Bill Gates has cancelled his scheduled keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, the Gates Foundation confirmed on Thursday, following renewed scrutiny after his name appeared in the latest tranche of Jeffrey Epstein files released by the US Justice Department.

“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 foundation said in a statement.

“The Gates Foundation remains fully committed to our work in India to advance our shared health and development goals,” it added.

The foundation further stated that the president of its Africa and India offices will deliver Gates’s speech instead.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leading technology executives are still expected to address the AI Impact Summit on Thursday, focusing on the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence.

Earlier this month, Gates expressed regret over his past interactions with Epstein.

“Every minute I spent with him, I regret, and I apologise,” Gates told 9News Australia.

The newly released documents include emails between Epstein and various prominent figures, detailing financial dealings, personal connections, and private correspondence.

In one draft email, Epstein alleged that Gates had extramarital affairs and claimed he assisted Gates with “consequences of sex with Russian girls” and “illicit trysts with married women.”

Gates has denied the allegations, stating: “That email was never sent. The email is false. I don’t know what his thinking was there. Was he trying to attack me in some way?”

A spokesperson for Gates similarly said the documents “demonstrate Epstein’s frustration that he did not have an ongoing relationship with Gates and the lengths he would go to entrap and defame.”

Melinda French Gates, Gates’s ex-wife, told US National Public Radio that the release of the files brought back “memories of some very, very painful times in my marriage” and said remaining questions regarding Epstein are for Gates and others directly involved.

The couple divorced in 2021.

The mention of someone in the Epstein files does not, on its own, indicate wrongdoing.

Gates’s withdrawal from the AI summit highlights the ongoing sensitivity surrounding the documents and the significant global attention they continue to attract.