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Bill Gates says there’s β€˜no upper limit’ on AI, citing opportunity and risk

9 January 2026 at 13:39
Bill Gates says he’s still optimistic about the future overall, with some β€œfootnotes” of caution. (GeekWire File Photo / Kevin Lisota)

Bill Gates had a front-row seat for the rise of AI, from his longtime work at Microsoft to early demonstrations of key breakthroughs from OpenAI that illustrated the technology’s potential.Β Now he’s urging the rest of us to get ready.

Likening the situation to his pre-COVID warnings about pandemic preparedness, Gates writes in his annual β€œYear Ahead” letter Friday morning that the world needs to act before AI’s disruptions become unmanageable. But he says that AI’s potential to transform healthcare, climate adaptation, and education remains enormous, if we can navigate the risks.

β€œThere is no upper limit on how intelligent AIs will get or on how good robots will get, and I believe the advances will not plateau before exceeding human levels,” Gates writes.

He acknowledges that missed deadlines for artificial general intelligence, or human-level AI, can β€œcreate the impression that these things will never happen.” But he warns against reaching that conclusion, arguing that bigger breakthroughs are coming, even if the timing remains uncertain.

He says he’s still optimistic overall. β€œAs hard as last year was, I don’t believe we will slide back into the Dark Ages,” he writes. β€œI believe that, within the next decade, we will not only get the world back on track but enter a new era of unprecedented progress.”

But he adds that we’ll need to be β€œdeliberate about how this technology is developed, governed, and deployed” β€” and that governments, not just markets, will have to lead AI implementation.

More takeaways from the letter:

Job disruption is already here. He says AI makes software developers β€œat least twice as efficient,” and that disruption is spreading. Warehouse work and phone support are next. He suggests the world use 2026 to prepare, citing the potential for changes like a shorter work week.

Bioterrorism is his top AI concern. Gates warns that β€œan even greater risk than a naturally caused pandemic is that a non-government group will use open source AI tools to design a bioterrorism weapon.”

Climate will cause β€œenormous suffering” without action. Gates cautions that if we don’t limit climate change, it will join poverty and infectious disease in hitting the world’s poorest people hardest, and even in the best case, temperatures will keep rising.

Child mortality went backward in 2025. Stepping outside AI, Gates calls this the thing he’s β€œmost upset about.” Deaths for children under 5 years old rose from 4.6 million in 2024 to 4.8 million in 2025, the first increase this century, which he traced to cuts in aid from rich countries.

AI could leapfrog rich-world farming. Gates predicts AI will soon give poor farmers β€œbetter advice about weather, prices, crop diseases, and soil than even the richest farmers get today.” The Gates Foundation has committed $1.4 billion to help farmers facing extreme weather.

Gates is using AI for his own health. He says he uses AI β€œto better understand my own health,” and sees a future where high-quality medical advice is available to every patient and provider around the clock.

AI is now the Gates Foundation’s biggest bet in education. Personalized learning powered by AI is β€œnow the biggest focus of the Gates Foundation’s spending on education.” Gates says he’s seen it working firsthand in New Jersey and believes it will be β€œgame changing” at scale.

Read the full letter here.

Ragi Rotti (Finger Millet Pancakes)



Today I was in a great mood to have these yummilicious Ragi Rotti. Ragi rotti (in Karnataka) also known as Nachani chi Bhakri in Maharashtra: is a very staple and savory breakfast dish. Ragi(finger millet) is hailed as a very nutritious millet/grain with a naturally nutty flavor. Lots of recipes are churned out using this ancient grain and Rotti (flat bread) is one of them. Feel free to take a look at few more interesting recipes on my blog that use Ragi as the main ingredient. In the past few years Ragi has taken a permanent place in my pantry :)



Ragi Rotti is nothing but a finger millet pancake made with mixing ragi flour, hot water, onions, chilies and few other ingredients to make a semi-soft dough. It makes a power packed breakfast or meal for that matter. It is usually served with spicy chutney, yogurt and dollops of ghee/butter.
Most authentic way of making it is by patting a rotti on a banana leaf and then frying the rotti on both the sides on a griddle till it's cooked. The flavors are amazing. As banana leaves are not easily available in the USA, Β I use wax paper to roll it πŸ™‚ . Many a times I directly pat the rotti on the griddle/tava itself. I wouldn't recommend it for the beginners though.


Ragi digests slowly and hence keeps you full for a longer period of time, just like protein. That's the reason why it is very loved and common amongst hard working class of people like farmers, construction workers etc. Ragi Mudde is another such example. Ragi flour porridge is given to babies once they start on solid food. A very staple grain found in almost every household in India. I highly recommend to incorporate this grain in your lifestyle.


Let us take a look at this recipe of Ragi Rotti.

Ingredients:
  • 1 cup ragi flour (finger millet flour)
  • 3/4 cup hot water (approx)
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 green chili chopped
  • 1 inch ginger minced
  • couple sprigs of cilantro chopped
  • salt as per taste
  • 1 tsp cumin seeds
  • oil to fry
  • 2 tbsp grated coconut (optional)*

Semi Soft Dough

Spread the ball of dough on a wax paper with your greased fingers,

Fry on both sides.
Preparation:
  • In a mixing bowl add all the ingredients except water.
  • Nicely mix everything with your hands or use a wooden ladle. Pour hot water slowly little by little as you keep mixing the mixture in circular motion. Keep doing it till you get a nice soft dough. Not too hard. Keep aside closed for 5-10 minutes.
  • Now heat a griddle/tava till smoking hot and then reduce the heat to med. Add 1 tsp of oil.
  • Take a square piece of wax paper to roll out rotti's. Take a portion of the dough about the size of a tennis ball and keep it on the wax paper. Grease your palms with oil and flatten it nicely using your fingers slowly and gently making a round rotti about 5 inch in diameter. (You can also use a rolling pin to make rotti).
  • If the edges are cracking, do not worry, just dip your finger with some water and gather it and seal the crack. Make some holes in between to make sure the oil gets absorbed uniformly well.
  • Lift the rotti along with the wax paper and invert it on the hot tava carefully and peel the wax paper out leaving the rotti on it.
  • Add oil or ghee gingerly around the rotti and over it. Cover with a lid and cook for couple of minutes. Flip the rotti and add more oil if you want and let it cook for another 2 minutes or till its done.
  • Take it out and serve hot with ghee/butter/yogurt/chutney etc.
njoY!! happY cookinG!!

Note:* Usually the ragi rotti turns out little on the crispier side.
If you want it more on the softer side then add coconut.
If you think that dough is too soft to make rottis, add a tsp (or more) of rice flour to make it semi-soft.
You can also add veggies in it to make it more nutritious like grated carrot, cucumber etc.

You may also like:

Ragi Mudde
Ragi Iddiyapam
Ragi Poori
Potato Stew



Health Benefits:Β 
Finger Millet(Ragi) is a power packed grain! It is high in protein and minerals. Helpful in controlling diabetes, keeps one younger for a long period(cross-linking of collagen), reduces bad cholesterol, also has anti-microbial properties and has been found to act against a number of bacteria including Bacillus cereus, which causes food poisoning, Salmonella sp., which causes a typhoid-like fever etc. Try and include this healthy food in your diet when you can.


Thank you for dropping by this post! Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

Video recipe: Avarekalu Ragi Rotti - Flatbread made with finger millet flour, vegetables, greens and hyacinth bean

29 January 2023 at 18:00
This classic rotti dates back to centuries in South India. Ragi, is a major staple of rural Karnataka. It is a millet that is rich in protein, minerals and fiber. Combine that with coconut, red chilies, ginger and avarekalu (hyacinth bean), and you have this mouth watering, crunchy roti/bread. Pair it with butter, chutney, pickle, or and omelet, and voila, a wholesome breakfast! Try it.

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