Jeffrey Epstein

Billionaire Bill Gates has said he would rather pay for vaccines than travelling to Mars, which he does not think is a good use of money.

" It's actually quite expensive to go to Mars. You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for $1,000 (£814) per life saved, " he told The Bbc .

" And so [that] just kind of grounds you, as in - Don 't go to Mars. "

The Microsoft co-founder also believes Artificial Intelligence will " pretty dramatically" transform humanity.

He Said : " It will help us look into medical and scientific questions. It's not just robots, it's helping to read and write as well.

" In fact, there's been more progress there than on the robotic side. Both of them will give us much higher productivity. "

Mr Gates also spoke of his surprise at becoming The Face of Conspiracy Theories during the Covid-19 pandemic.

" I did not expect that, " He Said , referring to suggestions he profited from The Virus , or started it himself.

" During the pandemic, there were tens of millions of messages that I intentionally caused it, or I'm tracking people. It's true I'm involved with vaccines, but I'm involved with vaccines to save lives.

" These messages sort of inverted that. I guess people are looking for the 'boogeyman' behind the curtain, the over-simplistic explanation. Malevolence is a lot easier to understand than biology. "

Mr Gates also spoke about how he, like many other philanthropists, met sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein .

" I'm certainly more careful now than back when I did that. I'll do a little more due diligence. I may make a mistake again. I'm out in The World and I'm not trying to be a recluse. "

Mr Gates, who has spent much of his life as the richest person in The World , has given tens of billions of pounds to philanthropic causes, often targeted at global health, especially children.

He now divides his time between Climate Change , and eradicating malnutrition and diseases such as polio and malaria.

On the question of whether he is frugal in his personal life, Mr Gates said: " I Don 't have a gigantic closet. I Don 't wear jewellery. When I'm unwrapping a present, I Don 't take the wrapping and fold it up and use it again. My Grandmother never threw a paper bag in her life or any string on a package. So by her standards, I'm crazy. "

Mr Gates divorced his wife, Melinda, in May 2021. When asked if he would like to find Love Again , He Said : " Sure, I'm not a robot. "

Amol Rajan Interviews: Bill Gates is on Bbc Two 19. 30 GMT on Friday, and on demand on and Afterwards .

Source of news: bbc.com