Gates Foundation says AI could become a great equaliser—but only if it is deliberately built to reach the people who need it most
The Gates Foundation has committed at least US$1 billion over the next two years to expand access to artificial intelligence and AI-enabled solutions, knowledge and opportunities, particularly for communities that have historically been left behind by technological advances.
The announcement comes alongside the launch of the foundation’s 10th annual Goalkeepers Report, which warns that the rapid development of AI could either narrow global inequalities or deepen them, depending on how the technology is designed and deployed.
The 2026 report, titled Make This Matter: AI, Equity, and the Choice We Can’t Delay, argues that AI’s trajectory is not predetermined and that there is only a limited window to influence who benefits from the technology and how quickly.
“The Gates Foundation was created in part to address a basic market failure: the people with the greatest needs often have the least power to shape where innovation and investment go,” Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, writes in the report. “AI presents the same challenge, only at much greater speed.”
Gates warned that relying solely on market forces could leave the benefits of AI concentrated among those with the greatest ability to pay.
More from Business“Left to the market alone, the most capable tools will be built first for the people and institutions most able to pay for them—not necessarily for those who could benefit most,” he wrote.
Where the $1 billion will go
The foundation said its funding will be distributed across four priority areas over the next two years.
Education will receive 40 per cent, supporting AI tutoring aimed at individualising student learning as well as teaching tools for classrooms in the US and abroad.
Another 40 per cent will go to healthcare, including AI-powered diagnostics, clinical decision-support tools for frontline health workers, maternal and newborn care and the discovery of new drugs and vaccines.
Agriculture will account for 10 per cent, with funding aimed at helping smallholder farmers access AI-generated advice tailored to their soil, weather and crop conditions.
The remaining 10 per cent will support the digital infrastructure needed for equitable AI, including datasets in languages that current AI tools do not adequately understand.
Gates urges govts and tech firms to act
The Gates Foundation said its funding will scale the work of partners already focused on closing gaps in AI access and ensuring that AI systems reflect the priorities and knowledge of the communities they are intended to serve.
Gates also called on governments and technology companies to measure AI’s success by more than its commercial potential.
“We can harness AI for good. But it won’t happen by accident,” Gates writes. He adds that governments and technology companies need “a deliberate, specific commitment” to judge AI not only by what it can do for the most profitable users but also by what it can deliver for people who stand to benefit the most.
The foundation’s latest commitment comes as governments, technology companies and philanthropies increasingly debate how AI should be developed and who should have access to its economic and social benefits.
The Gates Foundation said its objective is to help ensure that AI becomes a tool for reducing inequality rather than another technology that widens the gap between those with access to innovation and those without it.
