Broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) are a focal component of HIV-1 vaccine design, yet basic aspects of their induction remain poorly understood. Here we report on viral, host and disease factors that steer bnAb evolution using the results of a systematic survey in 4,484 HIV-1-infected individuals that identified 239 bnAb inducers. We show that three parameters that reflect the exposure to antigen—viral load, length of untreated infection and viral diversity—independently drive bnAb evolution. Notably, black participants showed significantly (P = 0.0086–0.038) higher rates of bnAb induction than white participants. Neutralization fingerprint analysis, which was used to delineate plasma specificity, identified strong virus subtype dependencies, with higher frequencies of CD4-binding-site bnAbs in infection with subtype B viruses (P = 0.02) and higher frequencies of V2-glycan-specific bnAbs in infection with non–subtype B viruses (P = 1 × 10⁻⁵). Thus, key host, disease and viral determinants, including subtype-specific envelope features that determine bnAb specificity, remain to be unraveled and harnessed for bnAb-based vaccine design.