Gates Foundation commits $1b to help deliver equitable AI that improves health, expands opportunity

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged at least $1 billion over the next two years to promote equitable access to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions that improve health, expand opportunities, and reduce global inequality. This announcement coincides with the launch of the Foundation's 10th annual Goalkeepers Report, which emphasizes the urgent need for AI to narrow, rather than widen, the gap between the wealthiest and poorest populations.

The report, titled "Make This Matter: AI, Equity, and the Choice We Can't Delay," argues that the future trajectory of AI is not predetermined, and there is still time to influence who benefits from AI and how quickly.

The report highlights examples of partners supported by the Foundation that are already using AI to transform lives in clinics, classrooms, and on small farms. The report argues that AI could serve as a powerful equalizer, but only if it is intentionally designed to benefit those who need it most. Bill Gates, the Foundation's Chairman, notes that the Gates Foundation was established partly to address a market failure where those with the greatest needs often have the least power to influence innovation and investment.

He states, "Much of our work has been about closing that gap. AI presents the same challenge, only at a much greater speed. Left to the market alone, the most capable tools would be built first for the people and institutions which are most able to pay for them, and not necessarily for those who can benefit most."

The Goalkeepers Report identifies three key areas where action is needed to ensure AI improves lives and livelihoods for more people: making AI tools work in every language spoken, building AI tools for the contexts in which people will use them, and investing in people and access so communities can shape how AI works for them. The report emphasizes that equitable access to AI benefits requires intentional design and the inclusion of end-users in the development process.

The Foundation's funding will support partners working to address these challenges, with the funding distributed across education, health care, agriculture, and the creation of digital foundations that enable equitable AI. The Foundation calls on others to contribute their resources, expertise, and voices to the effort, stressing that AI's potential for good will require deliberate commitment from governments, companies, and individuals to prioritize the needs of those who stand to benefit the most.