Melinda French Gates invests millions into women in AI
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Melinda French Gates speaks at a conference in Washington last year. Photo: Stefani Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
Melinda French Gates is donating $150 million to a battery of nonprofits to help remove barriers for women in the workplace.
- Nearly a third of the cash is going toward advancing women in AI and the tech industry.
Why it matters: The announcement from Gates' nonprofit advocacy group Pivotal comes at a time when companies are pulling back on diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that typically include gender.
- The incoming Trump administration is expected to accelerate that retreat.
- "Regardless of political party, we remain committed to our issues," Pivotal's vice president of program strategy Renee Wittemyer tells Axios.
- "As it stands, the modern workplace simply wasn't built with women in mind, and it's time for that to change," French Gates says in a video released Wednesday morning.
Zoom in: $45 million will be put toward increasing women's representation in AI and tech, including the Center for Inclusive Computing and Rewriting the Code.
- Some of those funds will go to Break Through Tech AI, which helps women outside of top schools get the training and support they need to land work in the industry.
- Women make up just 22% of AI workers globally, per data from Interface, a European think tank. That's especially worrying, given how fast-growing the sector is. Overall, the industry is closer to 30% women.
- A list of "who's who" in AI published in the New York Times late last year featured no women and got a good amount of blowback from women in the industry. Meanwhile, arguably the most important company of the moment — OpenAI — is losing its female execs.
The rest of the Pivotal money will go toward a variety of nonprofits and advocacy groups, including $75 million — half of the announced funds — to the Aspen Institute to establish a workplace innovation council next year.
- $30 million is going to groups like the National Partnership for Women & Families, Gretchen Carlson's Lift Our Voices, and Harvard Kennedy School's women and public policy program.
The big picture: The money is part of the $1 billion commitment that French Gates made earlier this year to provide funding through 2026 to groups working on women and family issues in the U.S. and globally.
- That was on top of $1 billion over 10 years she committed in 2019.
Flashback: In June, French Gates walked away the foundation she started with her ex-husband, Microsoft founder Bill Gates. They divorced in 2021.
