In a Reuters interview, Gates warned no government is ready for AI’s societal impact and said the Gates Foundation plans to spend at least $1 billion over two years to expand equitable AI access.
No government is ready for the societal changes artificial intelligence will bring, Bill Gates told Reuters in an interview carried by Thomson Reuters syndication, including The Jerusalem Post and The Straits Times.
The Microsoft co-founder said he had until recently been optimistic about AI but has changed his position, warning about threats to jobs, concerns about attacks, and dangers of addiction to AI companions. “I don’t think any government is nearly as deep on this as they have to be,” he said, later adding, “Governments are way behind on this one.” Gates said he has been talking to world leaders about his concerns, including President Donald Trump and his team in the United States, and aims to meet China’s President Xi Jinping later in 2026. He likened AI to “alien intelligence” that requires countries to cooperate the way disaster movies show nations uniting against a shared threat.
Alongside the warning, the Gates Foundation said it plans to spend at least $1 billion over the next two years expanding access to AI, part of previously announced plans to spend about $9 billion annually. The money will go to partners in education, healthcare, and agriculture, the foundation said, and will also help build data foundations such as ensuring large language models work in languages people speak. Gates said the health potential is hard to overstate, from supporting frontline workers to discovering new drugs and vaccines.
This brief covers the Reuters interview and foundation pledge as reported. It does not evaluate Gates’s policy proposals or schedule any Xi meeting.