Bill Gates told his foundation’s Goalkeepers gathering that increased generosity and the smart use of artificial intelligence together could accelerate the fight against inequality. He urged the world’s richest countries to expand international aid and apply AI toward what he considers lifesaving innovations.

The remarks came during a Monday conversation with political commentator Van Jones at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York. Gates, chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also noted shortcomings in AI development, saying the field had failed to embed the right human values and moral controls.

The annual event, timed around United Nations high-level meetings, opened with data showing that 26 of the world’s 34 wealthiest nations reduced development aid to poorer countries last year. The United Nations has separately warned that progress on its sustainable development goals for 2030 remains slow and uneven.

The foundation used the gathering to announce a new coalition of 60 partners, including Anthropic, Google, and the OpenAI Foundation, aimed at expanding AI tools into underrepresented languages. The effort follows the foundation’s recent commitment of $1 billion over two years to AI initiatives in health, education, and agriculture for low-income communities.

Gates has argued that decisions made in the coming 12 to 18 months will determine whether AI primarily benefits those who already have the most resources or reaches broader populations. The foundation’s report highlighted risks that market-driven development could leave billions behind, particularly in languages other than English.