Bill Gates and OpenAI back $50mn AI rollout for African health clinics

The Gates Foundation and OpenAI will invest $50 million to deploy AI tools in 1,000 primary health clinics and nearby communities in Rwanda and other African countries by 2028, the initiative said.

Bill Gates and OpenAI are backing a $50 million initiative to bring AI tools to primary care settings in parts of Africa. The programme, called Horizon1000, aims to support 1,000 primary health clinics and surrounding communities in Rwanda and other African countries by 2028. Gates and partners presented the plan at the World Economic Forum in Davos and said the tools are intended to support health workers, not replace them. The effort responds to chronic staff shortages and to broader efforts by technology groups to expand AI use in health care. Key details: - The Gates Foundation and OpenAI will invest $50 million to deploy AI tools in 1,000 primary health clinics and nearby communities by 2028. - The initiative is known as Horizon1000 and was unveiled at the World Economic Forum in Davos. - The project aims to assist with clinical record-keeping, symptom evaluations and to increase health worker productivity, according to Gates. - OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said using AI to improve people’s lives is a societal goal of the technology. - The World Health Organization estimates that between 5.7 million and 8.4 million deaths annually in low- and middle-income countries are linked to low-quality care. - Researchers have warned about AI-generated inaccuracies (so-called "hallucinations"), patient data privacy risks, possible biases affecting understudied groups, and language barriers; a Massachusetts Institute of Technology study found messages with typos or informal phrasing were 7–9% more likely to receive advice against seeking care from AI models compared with perfectly formatted communications. Summary: The initiative is positioned to ease strain on health workers and streamline primary care tasks while expanding AI tools in community health settings. The Gates Foundation said it will monitor, measure and audit model performance for safety problems and will roll out features gradually, tailoring tools for local cultures and contexts. The planned deployment is scheduled through 2028 as part of the Horizon1000 programme.