The Gates Foundation plans to spend at least $1 billion over the next two years to expand access to artificial intelligence tools, with founder Bill Gates warning that AI could either reduce or deepen economic disparities depending on how the technology is developed and deployed.

Gates said the funding will support AI applications in health care, education and agriculture, particularly in communities and countries that have had less access to advanced technology. The foundation has already announced a $200 million, four-year partnership with Anthropic to develop AI tools and shared resources for those fields.

Another focus will be expanding the language and data resources available to AI systems. Gates has argued that AI tools can leave people behind when they are primarily built around English-language data and the needs of wealthier countries. The foundation says its broader AI work is intended to help health workers, teachers, policymakers and farmers in low- and middle-income countries as well as underserved communities in the United States.

Gates has also expressed concerns about the risks associated with rapidly advancing AI. In recent writings, he has pointed to potential disruptions involving employment, cybersecurity, fraud and children's development while arguing that governments and technology companies need to address those risks as the technology advances.

The new commitment comes as the Gates Foundation accelerates its overall philanthropic spending. Gates announced in 2025 that the foundation would spend roughly $200 billion over the following two decades before closing at the end of 2045. The foundation has identified health, education, agriculture and economic opportunity as areas where it intends to use technology and philanthropy to expand access to resources.

Gates said the decisions made over the next several years will help determine whether AI's benefits reach a broader portion of the global population or remain concentrated among those with the greatest access to technology and resources.