Ola Akinwunmi
Microsoft co founder and philanthropist Bill Gates visited Jakarta on May 7, 2025, to meet President Prabowo Subianto and Indonesian philanthropists, emphasizing that artificial intelligence (AI) will be instrumental in developing novel tools for health, education, and agriculture.
Gates highlighted AI’s role in accelerating disease eradication efforts—such as polio, measles, and malaria—and improving delivery of essential services. President Prabowo emphasized the impact of philanthropic investments—over $159 million since 2009—particularly in health and vaccine programs.
The visit also included a stop at an elementary school to observe Indonesia’s Free Nutritious Meals program, reflecting a shared commitment to leveraging innovation and partnerships to tackle global challenges.
The discussion brought together government ministers and leading philanthropists, signaling Indonesia’s ambition to harness technology and private sector expertise to address pressing social issues.“AI is going to help us discover new tools. And even in the delivery of health, education and agriculture advice, we’ll be using AI,” Gates told the gathering, stressing that AI innovations could revolutionize how services are designed and deliver. He pointed to the next frontier of global health: “Once we finish eradicating polio, we’d like to try to eradicate measles and malaria as well. We have some new tools for that. And of course, part of my optimism about the innovation is because we now have artificial intelligence.
AI applications in health range from predictive analytics for outbreak detection to personalized treatment recommendations, while in education, AI powered platforms can tailor learning to individual student needs. In agriculture, AI tools can optimize crop yields through precision farming, soil analysis, and climate modeling.
UN agencies have campaigned for four decades to eradicate polio—spread primarily through contaminated water—and have turned to AI to enhance surveillance and target immunization drives more effectively.
Gates’ optimism reflects broader trends: major AI investments by governments and tech firms aim to integrate AI into public health systems worldwide. Last year, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella pledged $1.7 billion to bolster Indonesia’s AI and cloud infrastructure, laying groundwork for future innovations.
