Bill Gates: AI, aid cuts and the fear of speaking out

Bill Gates tells Gideon that a climate of fear has taken hold in the US business community under the Trump administration: “People are afraid to speak out about being afraid to speak out.” He discusses falling aid budgets, why philanthropy cannot replace government funding, and an ambitious new collaboration with OpenAI to improve access to healthcare in Africa. Gates also reflects on the more destabilising uses of artificial intelligence and his past association with the disgraced financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Clips: NBC4, Bill GatesFree links to read more on this topic: Bill Gates and OpenAI back $50mn AI rollout in African health clinicsTech titans lined up for Trump’s second inauguration. Now they’re even richerBill Gates and Sergey Brin among newly released Epstein photosBill Gates warns aid cuts risk big increase in child deathsSubscribe to The Rachman Review wherever you get your podcasts - please listen, rate and subscribe.Presented by Gideon Rachman. Produced by Fiona Symon. Sound design is by Breen Turner and the executive producer is Flo Phillips.Follow Gideon on Bluesky or X @gideonrachman.bsky.social, @gideonrachmanRead a transcript of this episode on FT.com Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.