The Gates Foundation and OpenAI have announced a new partnership aimed at using artificial intelligence to strengthen healthcare systems in several African countries, as international aid funding continues to decline. The initiative, unveiled on Wednesday, will begin in Rwanda and is intended to support governments in improving access to medical care through technology.
The $50 million collaboration, known as Horizon1000, will focus on working directly with African leaders to identify practical ways AI tools can be integrated into existing health systems. The goal is to help offset the impact of recent cuts in global development assistance, which have strained already fragile healthcare infrastructure in parts of the continent.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Bill Gates said artificial intelligence could play a significant role in addressing shortages of healthcare workers and limited medical resources. He noted that AI-driven systems could help countries recover from setbacks linked to reduced aid spending, which was followed last year by the first increase in preventable child deaths this century.
International aid reductions began in early 2025 with cuts by the United States and later extended to other major donors, including Britain and Germany. According to estimates from the Gates Foundation, global development assistance for health fell by nearly 27% in 2025 compared with the previous year. Gates said countries most affected by those reductions could benefit from faster adoption of digital health solutions.
The partnership brings together the Gates Foundation and OpenAI, the developer of widely used AI models. The initiative will initially focus on Rwanda, which last year established an AI health hub in Kigali as part of its broader digital transformation strategy. Rwandan officials have positioned the country as a testing ground for new health technologies that could later be expanded elsewhere.
Rwanda’s minister of information and communications technology and innovation, Paula Ingabire, said the use of AI would be aimed at reducing the administrative burden on health workers, improving care quality and extending services to underserved communities. She emphasised that the technology would be deployed with a focus on responsible use and patient safety.
Horizon1000 aims to reach around 1,000 primary healthcare clinics and their surrounding communities across multiple countries by 2028. Gates said some nations involved have extremely low doctor-to-patient ratios, with as few as one physician for every 50,000 people, even in large cities. By comparison, high-income countries typically have far higher levels of medical staffing.
According to Gates, early applications are expected to focus on maternal health and HIV care. AI tools could provide guidance to patients before they arrive at clinics, particularly in cases where language barriers exist between patients and healthcare providers. Once patients are seen, AI systems could help streamline paperwork, link medical records and manage appointments more efficiently.
Gates said the foundation believes such tools could significantly reduce consultation times while improving overall quality of care. The broader objective, he added, is to ensure that advances in AI-driven healthcare reach lower-income countries at the same pace as wealthier nations, rather than widening existing global inequalities.
The initiative reflects a growing push by governments, technology firms and philanthropic organisations to explore how artificial intelligence can be applied in public health, particularly as traditional funding sources come under pressure.
