Bill Gates says this is the No. 1 unsolvable problem facing today's young people
Bill Gates says this is the No. 1 unsolvable problem facing today’s young people

If Bill Gates had to start all over again, he’d join the artificial intelligence arms race with an “AI-centric” startup, he says.

“Today, somebody could raise billions of dollars for a new AI company [that’s just] a few sketch ideas,” the billionaire Microsoft co-founder tells CNBC Make It.

If he could gain enough capital, he’d consider attempting to build a rival to the AI efforts of big companies like Google, Nvidia or Microsoft-backed OpenAI, he says. Otherwise, he’d try to find a specific niche industry where AI could be useful, and grow in a focused way with minimal competition, he adds.

Gates researched the AI industry for his upcoming Netflix docuseries “What’s Next? The Future With Bill Gates,” set to premiere on September 18. His top entrepreneurial takeaway, he says: To really stand out “as a small company, you have to pick something you’re going to do uniquely.”

Since the AI industry is well into a boom period — startups have received more than $26 billion in investment dollars so far this year, according to Pitchbook — it might be too late to get ahead of the technology development curve. But AI will be transformative enough as it grows for any new tech startup to consider how it can fit into that industry, Gates says.

Gates’ hypothetical startup likely wouldn’t be as successful as Microsoft, he notes. When Microsoft launched in 1976, only “hobbyists” like Gates and Allen imagined that computers would one day dominate culture. Their prescient belief in the technology, combined with the ability to recruit engineers and develop software, helped them corner a nascent market.

“I was lucky that my belief in software made me unique,” says Gates, adding: “Just believing in AI, that’s not very unique. So I would have to develop some unique view of how you design AI systems — something that other people didn’t get.”

Gates acknowledges the difficulty: If he were a 20-year-old entrepreneur again, he says, he’d have to hope that his “young brain” would recognize something about the way other companies approached AI and say, “Oh, the way those things work is so stupid.”

Barring an epiphany, his advice for today’s entrepreneurs is simple — start by thinking about ways AI could improve a business or your daily life, by automating costly tasks or helping generate strategic ideas that could have broader applications. If AI reduced paperwork for doctors, they could focus more of their time on advising their patients, Gates told CNN in January.

“I’m encouraging young people at Microsoft, OpenAI, wherever I find them: ‘Hey, here’s the frontier,’” he now says. “Because you’re taking a fresher look at this than I am, and that’s your fantastic opportunity.”