Bill Gates Launches 'AI Alzheimer's Treatment' Competition with $1 Million Grand Prize

Bill Gates Launches $1 Million AI Competition
to Accelerate Breakthroughs in Alzheimer's Treatment

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is giving a speech at the National Assembly Budget Committee plenary session on the 16th. Photo by National Assembly Press Photographers Group

Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft (MS), is launching a competition to develop Alzheimer's treatments utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technology. The grand prize is $1 million (approximately 1.4 billion KRW).

According to the UK’s Financial Times (FT), the "Alzheimer’s Data Initiative," which brings together academia, businesses, and governments from around the world, announced on the 19th (local time) that it will host the "Alzheimer’s Insights AI" event with this goal.

Participants in the competition will develop AI programs capable of independent planning, reasoning, and action, with the aim of accelerating breakthrough discoveries based on existing Alzheimer’s data.

The winning AI program will be posted for free on the Alzheimer’s Data Initiative cloud, making it accessible to scientists worldwide. The $1 million prize awarded to the winner will be funded by Gates Ventures, led by Bill Gates.

This competition is drawing attention to whether it will yield insights that could unlock new approaches to treating Alzheimer’s. The medical community estimates that there are currently 55 million dementia patients worldwide, and this number is projected to triple by 2050 due to population aging.

A Gates Ventures spokesperson stated, "We are all aware of the burden that Alzheimer’s imposes, and the situation is only expected to worsen. Despite the urgency we face, there are still no groundbreaking treatments." The spokesperson added, "Unless you’re living in the Stone Age, AI is a reality, and the scientific community must take advantage of it."