Gates Foundation and OpenAI Invest $50M to Bring AI Driven Healthcare to Africa

The Gates Foundation and OpenAI are setting up a partnership to help African countries use artificial intelligence to improve healthcare.

The Gates Foundation and OpenAI have announced a $50 million agreement to assist African countries in improving their health-care systems through the use of artificial intelligence.

The partnership is named Horizon1000 and will engage with African leaders to determine the best way to use technology, beginning with Rwanda. The effort will use AI-powered solutions to help primary health care staff with patient intake, triage, follow-up, referrals, and access to reliable medical information in local languages. The organizations stated that the attempt is intended to enhancement and not replace the health personnel, particularly in locations with significant manpower shortages.

The organization has already launched several AI initiatives, and Rwanda opened an AI health hub in Kigali last year. According to Gates, Horizon1000 seeks to reach 1,000 primary health clinics and neighboring populations in different nations by 2028. The launch comes as many lower-income nations deal with severe cuts to international aid budgets which Gates claimed in December contributed to the first rise in preventable infant deaths this century.

In a blog post announcing the launch, Gates stated that, in poorer countries with enormous health worker shortages and lack of health systems infrastructure, AI can be a game changer in expanding access to quality care. He has repeatedly described AI as one of the most transformative technologies ever developed. Additionally, the Microsoft co-founder wrote that AI offers a powerful way to extend clinical capacity.

Gates believes AI might be especially useful in places with a significant scarcity of qualified health staff. He noted estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa is short of approximately six million healthcare personnel.

The announcement will be made during the World Economic Forum's 2026 annual meeting, where Gates will speak with Rwanda's Minister of ICT and Innovation and the head of the Global Fund about how AI and other technologies might help reverse the recent failures in global health outcomes.