Microsoft pledges $50 billion to tackle AI inequality as it warns of ‘growing divide’ | CNN Business

Microsoft pledges  billion to tackle AI inequality as it warns of ‘growing divide’ | CNN Business

By Hanna Ziady
Publication Date: 2026-02-18 12:02:00


London
 — 

Microsoft says it is on track to invest $50 billion by the end of the decade to help bring artificial intelligence to lower-income countries, as concerns mount over the technology’s potential to deepen inequality.

The announcement was made Wednesday at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, where leading tech executives, government officials and AI researchers are debating how to use AI to solve real-world problems.

Policymakers globally are increasingly worried that the unequal adoption of AI risks widening income and development gaps between rich and poor countries. In December, the United Nations Development Project called for global cooperation on standards and safety to ensure the technology “functions as a shared public good rather than a concentrated advantage.”

At the summit, Microsoft likewise expressed the need for cross-border…