Gates Foundation Commits at Least $1 Billion Over Two Years to Expand Equitable AI Access

On September 15, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced plans to invest at least $1 billion over the next two years to help ensure artificial intelligence and AI-based solutions benefit people more widely and equitably around the world.

The foundation said it will focus on AI applications rather than participate in general-purpose large language model development. It wants AI solutions to be adapted to local languages and contexts, accessible and affordable, and to meet standards for reliability, safety and data protection. On the same day, the foundation released its tenth annual Goalkeepers report, which focuses on AI and calls for immediate action to ensure the fast-moving technology narrows, rather than widens, the gap between the world's richest and poorest people.

According to the foundation's funding breakdown, roughly 40% will go to education, including AI tutoring tools that provide personalized learning support for students and classroom teaching tools used in the United States and other countries. Another 40% will support health efforts, including diagnostic and clinical decision-support tools for frontline health workers, maternal and newborn care tools, and efforts to accelerate drug and vaccine development. About 10% will go to agriculture, including AI-generated advice for smallholder farmers based on local soil, weather and crop conditions. The remaining 10% will be used to build digital infrastructure needed for equitable AI, including language datasets.

Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, noted that current application scenarios remain relatively limited and have not yet reached scale. Reaching millions of students, farmers, patients and health workers will require targeted deployment of AI tools, development of use cases, and support from datasets and appropriate regulation.