The Gates Foundation has committed at least $1 billion over the next two years to expand access to artificial intelligence, with funding directed towards healthcare, education, agriculture and the digital infrastructure needed to make AI more accessible to underserved communities.
Announced alongside the foundation's 10th annual Goalkeepers Report, the commitment is aimed at addressing disparities in how AI systems are developed and deployed. The 2026 report, titled Make This Matter: AI, Equity, and the Choice We Can't Delay, argues that AI could either narrow existing social and economic gaps or deepen them, depending on how the technology is developed and distributed.
Around 40% of the funding is expected to support education initiatives, including AI-powered tutoring systems designed to personalise student learning and tools that can assist teachers in classrooms in the US and other markets.
Another 40% will be allocated to healthcare. The foundation plans to support AI applications spanning diagnostics, clinical decision-making for frontline health workers, maternal and newborn care, and the discovery of new drugs and vaccines.
Agriculture will account for approximately 10% of the commitment. This includes AI tools designed to provide smallholder farmers with information and recommendations based on local soil, weather and crop conditions.
The remaining 10% will be used to strengthen the digital foundations required for more equitable AI development, including datasets covering languages that remain underrepresented in current AI systems.
Language is one of the issues highlighted by the foundation. According to the Goalkeepers Report, more than 90% of the data used to train early large language models came from English-language sources. The foundation argues that expanding language coverage will be necessary if AI services are to serve communities outside dominant-language markets effectively.
The report also calls for AI systems to incorporate local data and expertise. It argues that countries and communities should have a role in deciding how their data is managed and protected, while professionals including teachers, doctors, farmers and developers need access to training that allows them to evaluate and adapt AI tools.
Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation, said relying solely on market forces could result in the most advanced AI tools being developed primarily for individuals and institutions with the greatest ability to pay.
The foundation is therefore calling on governments, technology companies and other organisations to contribute funding and expertise towards making AI tools more affordable and accessible.
The $1 billion commitment adds to a growing push to extend AI beyond commercial applications and into public-interest areas where access to technology, data, infrastructure and specialised expertise remains uneven.
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