Bill Gates: Window to Make AI Benefit Everyone May Be Just 12-18 Months

In an exclusive interview on September 15, Bill Gates said AI could be a powerful force for equality or could worsen global inequality. He stressed the need to ensure technology benefits developing countries, adding that the window for inclusive AI may be only 12-18 months.

Gates explained that if AI is only used in wealthy nations and fails to reach developing countries, inequality will only deepen. He cited sub-Saharan Africa, where areas with the greatest doctor shortages are least able to use AI in healthcare. He also noted that early large language model training relied on more than 90% English data, limiting usefulness for non-English speakers. For example, a leading AI speech recognition system has an error rate of 60% for Nigeria's Yoruba language, compared with under 6% for English.

Gates said he would soon visit OpenAI and Anthropic for discussions. The Gates Foundation maintains partnerships with Microsoft, Google, OpenAI and Anthropic. In January, it launched the "Horizon 1000" initiative with OpenAI, committing $50 million to combine AI with healthcare in Africa, with Rwanda as the first pilot country. On September 15, the foundation also announced at least $1 billion over two years to promote broad and fair access to AI globally.

Gates also expressed strong interest in China's AI development, mentioning that he had watched the World Humanoid Robot Games. He said China pays more attention to humanoid robots than other countries, and that Chinese AI models are performing very well, with both China and the US fielding several top-tier models. He described the current situation as "super-competition" and proposed that both countries contribute about 5% of their data center computing power to support poor countries in areas such as health, agriculture and education.