Dell founder Michael Dell makes one of the biggest donations to a public university for AI-native hospital

Michael Dell, founder and chief executive of Dell, has donated $750 million to the University of Texas at Austin, in one of the largest donations ever made to a public university in the United States. The university said the gift will support a new healthcare and research campus, scholarships, advanced computing infrastructure and medical research programmes.

UT Austin said the latest contribution takes the total amount donated by Michael and Susan Dell to the university to more than $1 billion. A major part of the funding will go towards the newly named UT Dell Medical Center, which is expected to open in 2030 as part of a wider healthcare and research campus focused on the use of artificial intelligence in medicine.

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The university has described the project as the country’s first AI-native hospital. According to UT Austin, AI systems at the hospital could help healthcare professionals identify diseases at earlier stages, improve diagnosis and support the creation of more personalised treatment plans. The funding will also support scholarships for students, research projects and advanced computing resources across medical and scientific disciplines.

Michael Dell’s association with UT Austin goes back to 1983, when he enrolled as a pre-med student. While studying there, he began selling computer upgrade kits from his dorm room with about $1,000 in start-up capital. He later left the university before completing his sophomore year to focus on the business he started in 1984, which went on to become Dell Technologies.

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Earlier this year, speaking at CNBC’s Invest In America Forum, Dell referred to his early connection with medicine and said, “I think about this as the next step in a timeline that actually goes back to my parents sending me off to UT to become a doctor. Obviously, that part didn’t work out, but I never stopped thinking about that.”

The latest gift adds to earlier contributions made by Michael and Susan Dell in Austin. In 2005, the couple donated $25 million to help build Dell Children’s Medical Center, and in 2013 they gave $50 million to establish Dell Medical School at UT Austin. The university has also announced that the residence hall where Dell lived as a freshman will be renamed Dell House, as his $750 million donation is set to play a central role in expanding UT Austin’s healthcare and research capabilities in the coming years.