American tech billionaire and philanthropist Bill Gates has disclosed he will channel most of the $200 billion he intends to give away over the next two decades into Africa, focusing on health, education, and partnerships with governments that prioritize citizen welfare.

The Microsoft co-founder made the declaration on Monday while addressing a gathering at the Nelson Mandela Hall of the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he spoke to an audience of more than 12,000 people — including government officials, diplomats, health workers, development partners, and youth leaders.

The announcement marks a significant shift in global philanthropy at a time when U.S. foreign aid has declined, particularly under President Donald Trump, whose administration has scaled back humanitarian funding and gutted staffing at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Gates’ vow to step into that void underscores what he sees as the urgency to invest in Africa’s future, especially as the continent faces persistent challenges in health, poverty, education, and climate vulnerability.

“I recently made a commitment that my wealth will be given away over the next 20 years. The majority of that funding will be spent on helping you address challenges here in Africa,” Gates said at the event, according to a statement from the Gates Foundation.

The 68-year-old philanthropist, who is currently worth about $108 billion, says his net worth will fall by 99% by 2060, in line with his goal of distributing nearly all of his fortune through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

In a recent interview with CBS Mornings, Gates explained that his decision was inspired by Andrew Carnegie’s 1889 essay, “The Gospel of Wealth,” which asserts that the wealthy have a moral obligation to give away their riches during their lifetimes. The essay’s core idea — that “the man who dies thus rich dies disgraced” — has become a guiding principle for Gates, who has spent the past two decades trying to reallocate wealth to fight disease and inequality.

This isn’t Gates’ first act of philanthropic ambition. In 2010, he co-founded The Giving Pledge alongside Warren Buffett and Melinda French Gates, urging billionaires to commit at least half their fortunes to causes aimed at improving the human condition. But this new plan takes that ambition further by setting a firm 20-year horizon and a regional priority.

Africa as the Central Focus

While Gates has always had global ambitions through his foundation — funding vaccine development, eradicating diseases like malaria and polio, and strengthening health systems — his current announcement centers on Africa as the primary beneficiary. This includes support for health infrastructure, educational access, agriculture resilience, and innovation hubs across the continent.

“By unleashing human potential through health and education, every country in Africa should be on a path to prosperity — and that path is an exciting thing to be part of,” Gates said at the AU event.

His remarks highlighted the belief that investing in people, especially in developing nations, is the most effective way to lift entire regions out of poverty. Gates emphasized that this funding would not just be about charitable giveaways, but about partnering with African governments that show a commitment to reform and long-term impact.

In recent years, Gates and his foundation have ramped up involvement in African countries through initiatives like the Africa Health Diagnostics Platform (AHDP), support for vaccine manufacturing in Senegal and South Africa, and climate-resilient crop programs.

Filling the Void of U.S. Foreign Aid Cuts

Under the Trump administration, funding for USAID — historically one of the world’s largest conduits for humanitarian and health aid — was slashed significantly, and staffing levels fell. That retreat has left a vacuum in many low-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where programs once supported by American aid have stalled or been abandoned.

Gates’ expanded commitment signals an attempt to fill that void. With governments under fiscal pressure and private foreign aid plateauing, philanthropy may now carry more weight than ever before in shaping the future of public health and education in developing countries.

Initial reactions to Gates’ pledge have been mixed. African governments and health leaders welcomed the announcement, seeing it as a needed intervention during a time of global economic uncertainty. Many stressed that the funding must not only be generous but sustainable and equitably distributed, with an emphasis on African ownership of development programs.

Elon Musk has triggered a political firestorm after denouncing President Donald Trump’s sprawling tax-and-spending bill as a “disgusting abomination,” warning that the legislation will explode the federal deficit and plunge America deeper into unsustainable debt.

Musk, posting Tuesday on X, the social media platform he owns, blasted the sweeping bill pushed through by Trump’s allies in Congress.

“This massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill is a disgusting abomination,” he wrote. “Shame on those who voted for it: you know you did wrong. You know it.”

The outburst was a sharp turn from the image of partnership the two men projected just days earlier. Musk’s recent role as head of Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) had seemingly cemented his place in Trump’s orbit — a relationship capped by a public send-off at the White House last week, with both men heaping praise on each other. But Tuesday’s post, filled with blunt indignation, marked a rupture.

“I’m sorry, but I just can’t stand it anymore,” Musk wrote in a follow-up post, accusing Congress of exploding the national debt for short-term political wins. “This will massively increase the already gigantic budget deficit to $2.5 trillion (!!!) and burden American citizens with crushingly unsustainable debt.”

Trump’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, tried to brush off the remarks: “Look, the president already knows where Elon Musk stood on this bill,” she told reporters. “It doesn’t change the President’s opinion. This is one big, beautiful bill, and he’s sticking to it.”

Leavitt went further, attacking the Congressional Budget Office for its projection that the bill would add $3.8 trillion to the national deficit over the next decade.

“We believe the CBO’s math is wrong — and has been biased against Republican-led reforms for years,” she said.

Business Leaders and Lawmakers Rally Around Musk

But while the White House attempted to downplay Musk’s dissent, his post quickly became a rallying cry for fiscal conservatives and disaffected business figures — many of whom believe Musk has exposed the contradiction at the heart of Trump’s fiscal policies.

“Elon is absolutely right,” said Peter Schiff, chief economist at Euro Pacific Capital. “I’m so glad he’s willing to call out the hypocrisy in the Republican Party. He is a man of principle. The Big, Beautiful Bill is a fraud. Hopefully, Elon can persuade Trump to veto it if it passes the Senate in its current form, or anything close to it.”

Senator Rand Paul, who has clashed with Trump in the past over deficit issues, echoed the sentiment. “I agree with Elon. We have both seen the massive waste in government spending and we know another $5 trillion in debt is a huge mistake,” Paul said. “We can and must do better.”

Rep. Thomas Massie, another staunch fiscal hawk, kept his response simple: “He’s right.” Musk replied: “Simple math.”

Even Senator Mike Lee of Utah, a longtime critic of the GOP’s shift toward big-spending populism, stepped in.

“Congress has hollowed out America’s middle class through reckless deficit spending and the inflation it causes,” he posted. “The Uniparty propels this vicious cycle and must be stopped in its tracks.”

A Point of No Return?

The intensity of Musk’s criticism has now fueled speculation that a full break with Trump is imminent. While Musk supported Trump’s re-election bid with over $250 million in campaign contributions and played a key advisory role in the administration’s tech and efficiency agenda, observers say Trump’s well-known intolerance for public dissent means the two men are likely going to break apart.

Musk had already been raising eyebrows in recent weeks for comments suggesting unease with Trump’s handling of tariffs and industrial policy. In a CBS News interview aired Sunday, he said the new budget bill “undermines everything we tried to do with DOGE.”

He’s also had run-ins with senior members of the administration. At various times, Musk openly insulted Trump’s former trade advisor Peter Navarro, and clashed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over fiscal strategy.

Trump Lashes Out at Dissent

Earlier Tuesday, even before Musk’s post gained steam, Trump had already shown signs of irritation over criticism of the bill. The president lashed out at Senator Paul for denouncing the proposal to raise the debt ceiling, accusing the Kentucky senator of lacking economic vision.

“He doesn’t understand the tremendous GROWTH this bill will generate,” Trump posted on Truth Social.

But Trump’s argument — that the bill will spur growth large enough to outpace the additional debt — is beginning to fall flat even among his loyalists. The CBO’s projection paints a grimmer picture, estimating the bill will deepen the deficit by nearly $4 trillion in ten years, even under favorable economic assumptions.

Musk remains one of the few major Trump allies willing to break ranks publicly. But analysts say his post could mark a tipping point, and if Musk continues to galvanize opposition to the bill, it may be harder for Trump to claim unified support from the business community ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Currently, the Senate is preparing to vote on the bill, but the blowback shows no signs of fading. What once looked like a ceremonial budget victory is now shaping up to be the beginning of an ideological civil war — with Musk, not for the first time, in the middle of it.

Microsoft has officially rolled out a new AI-powered video generation tool called Bing Video Creator, making it the first platform to publicly deploy OpenAI’s Sora model for free.

The launch, announced Monday, marks a significant milestone in the race to democratize generative video technology and underscores Microsoft’s deepening partnership with OpenAI.

Sora — unveiled in February 2024 — is OpenAI’s most advanced text-to-video model to date. It stunned the tech world with its ability to produce highly coherent, realistic videos from short-written prompts. In internal demos, it generated scenes like a bustling Tokyo street, a coral reef, and a woman walking through the snow — all from plain text inputs. Until now, however, public access to the tool was limited to a small group of vetted researchers and commercial partners under strict usage guidelines.

Free, but Limited Access Through Bing App

Through Bing Video Creator, Microsoft is offering ordinary users their first chance to experiment with Sora — albeit in a heavily restricted format. The tool is currently exclusive to the Bing mobile app, with no desktop access at launch.

Users logged into a Microsoft account can generate up to 10 videos for free. After that, each video generation costs 100 Microsoft Rewards points, a loyalty currency that can be earned by using Bing Search or shopping in the Microsoft Store. For instance, users receive 5 points per desktop Bing search, up to 150 points per day.

Each video is capped at five seconds, and users can only queue up three generations at a time. Output is limited to a vertical 9:16 aspect ratio, designed for platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Microsoft said it will soon support horizontal aspect ratios, likely in response to growing interest in AI-generated video for broader creative and cinematic uses.

Despite a “fast mode” setting promising shorter wait times, some users report waiting hours for video generation to complete, indicating either a capacity bottleneck or deliberate throttling by Microsoft to manage demand.

Microsoft Bets on Sora to Compete in the AI Ecosystem

Microsoft is both expanding access to cutting-edge AI and pushing aggressively into markets dominated by Google and YouTube by integrating Sora into its search app. While Microsoft’s Bing still holds under 5% of the global search engine market, its integration of generative AI tools — including GPT-4.5, DALL·E image generation, and now Sora — positions Bing as a feature-rich alternative to Google Search.

This strategic deployment also strengthens Microsoft’s commercial relationship with OpenAI. Microsoft has invested over $13 billion into OpenAI since 2019 and currently holds an exclusive license to commercialize its models via Azure. Sora’s deployment on Bing represents the first time the public has been able to use it without direct payment or institutional access.

Ethical Concerns and Impact on Creative Industry

Sora’s capabilities have sparked debate within the creative industry and among policymakers. While praised for its potential to revolutionize filmmaking, education, advertising, and gaming, Sora has also raised alarm over deepfake risks, misinformation, and potential job displacement for editors, animators, and video producers.

OpenAI has acknowledged these risks, saying it will implement “guardrails” and develop tools for provenance and watermarking. Microsoft appears to be following suit by limiting video length, scope, and access — at least in this early phase.

Microsoft’s move comes amid rising competition. Google’s own AI video model, Lumiere, which was unveiled in January 2024, remains in research preview. Meta is reportedly working on an AI video model internally but has not made it public. Unlike Microsoft, both tech giants have so far chosen to keep such tools behind closed doors, citing ethical concerns and platform safety.

By contrast, Microsoft is betting that controlled public rollout — paired with reward-based engagement — could help it leapfrog rivals and generate buzz ahead of broader monetization.

While Bing Video Creator is still in its infancy, Microsoft’s decision to launch Sora in this format signals a long-term vision for making high-quality AI video creation accessible to everyday users. If generation speeds improve and output options expand, the tool could evolve from a novelty into a widely used feature across social platforms and personal projects.

Klarna, the Swedish fintech giant once seen as the face of the booming “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) trend, has taken a major step to rebrand itself as a more robust financial services company.

The firm is now piloting its own Visa debit card in the United States, dubbed the Klarna Card, as it moves to expand its offerings beyond short-term credit. Klarna says the card will be rolled out across Europe later this year.

The timing of the product launch is significant. Klarna’s foray into the payment card market comes amid growing pressure on its core BNPL business, which has faced mounting losses and tighter regulation. Once celebrated for disrupting traditional credit models, BNPL products — which allow consumers to split purchases into multiple interest-free payments — are now struggling under the weight of rising defaults, changing consumer behavior, and increasing scrutiny from regulators across the globe.

Klarna’s revenues from BNPL have suffered notably in the past two years. As economic conditions tightened and inflation eroded consumers’ ability to repay on time, the company saw a spike in delinquencies. While Klarna has since slashed costs and cut its workforce, it continues to operate at a loss, a stark contrast to its 2021 heyday when it was Europe’s most valuable private tech firm with a $45.6 billion valuation. That valuation was cut by 85% in 2022, reflecting growing doubts over the sustainability of its original business model.

The new debit card is Klarna’s boldest attempt yet to diversify revenue streams and position itself as more than a one-trick pony. According to the company, the Klarna Card functions primarily as a debit card, but users can switch to its BNPL options — including “Pay in 4” or “Pay in 30 Days” — at checkout. The card is powered by Visa’s Flexible Credential technology, which allows consumers to access multiple funding sources from a single payment method.

“We want Americans to start to associate us with not only buy now, pay later, but [with] the PayPal wallet type of experience that we have, and also the neobank offering that we offer,” Klarna CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski told CNBC’s “The Exchange” last month. “We are basically a neobank to a large degree, but people associate us still strongly with buy now, pay later.”

Unlike traditional debit cards tied to checking accounts at banks, the Klarna Card is linked to accounts that hold FDIC-insured deposits through WebBank, a Utah-based partner bank. This structure enables Klarna to sidestep the need for its own U.S. banking license while still offering consumers many of the benefits of a full-service bank. Users can make payments, withdraw funds, and switch between payment modes with the same card, which comes in three color options: aubergine, black, and bright green. Klarna also offers tiered perks including discounts and cashback.

The U.S. market — dominated by giants like JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America — is already competitive, and Klarna will be going head-to-head with neobanks such as Chime and fintech players like PayPal, which also pivoted into banking-like services. Klarna claims that over 5 million people have already joined the waitlist for the new card, signaling strong consumer interest despite the cooling of the BNPL hype.

The company’s pivot toward embedded finance and payment infrastructure mirrors broader trends in the fintech sector, where firms that once grew by offering niche products are now racing to become full-stack digital banks. But Klarna’s strategic push comes with added urgency: it is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO), which was recently postponed due to financial market uncertainty following new U.S. tariffs.

Analysts see the Klarna Card as a critical test of whether the firm can successfully transform into a sustainable fintech platform. Regulators in the U.K., U.S., and Australia have all increased oversight of BNPL firms, requiring them to meet more rigorous lending and consumer protection standards. This adds further pressure on companies like Klarna to reduce reliance on deferred-payment models.

While Klarna still holds a full banking license in the European Union, its ambitions in the U.S. — the world’s largest consumer market — depend heavily on its ability to adapt. The new debit card, supported by Visa’s infrastructure and regulatory partnerships, may offer Klarna a second wind, but it also signals a fundamental change: a shift away from the aggressive lending that made it famous, toward a more measured, bank-like approach that could finally lead the company to sustainable profitability.

Fintech firms want some swiping action. On Tuesday, Buy Now, Pay Later pioneer Klarna announced the debut of a Visa-powered debit card that, per CNBC, signals the Swedish startup’s ambitions of becoming an “all-encompassing banking player” as it plans for a public offering later this year. Also on Tuesday, PayPal launched a physical credit card in partnership with MasterCard. CEO Alex Chriss noted in a LinkedIn post that a PayPal product for in-store use has long been among the “most requested” from customers.