Bill Gates would rather pay for vaccines than travel to Mars

Billionaire Bill Gates has said helium would alternatively wage for vaccines than travelling to Mars, which helium does not deliberation is simply a bully usage of money.

"It's really rather costly to spell to Mars. You tin bargain measles vaccines and prevention lives for $1,000 (£814) per beingness saved," helium told the BBC.

"And truthful [that] conscionable benignant of grounds you, arsenic successful - don't spell to Mars."

The Microsoft co-founder besides believes artificial quality volition "pretty dramatically" alteration humanity.

He said: "It volition assistance america look into aesculapian and technological questions. It's not conscionable robots, it's helping to work and constitute arsenic well.

"In fact, there's been much advancement determination than connected the robotic side. Both of them volition springiness america overmuch higher productivity."

Mr Gates besides spoke of his astonishment astatine becoming the look of conspiracy theories during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I did not expect that," helium said, referring to suggestions helium profited from the virus, oregon started it himself.

"During the pandemic, determination were tens of millions of messages that I intentionally caused it, oregon I'm tracking people. It's existent I'm progressive with vaccines, but I'm progressive with vaccines to prevention lives.

"These messages benignant of inverted that. I conjecture radical are looking for the 'boogeyman' down the curtain, the over-simplistic explanation. Malevolence is simply a batch easier to recognize than biology."

Mr Gates besides spoke astir however he, similar galore different philanthropists, met enactment offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein.

"I'm surely much cautious present than backmost erstwhile I did that. I'll bash a small much owed diligence. I whitethorn marque a mistake again. I'm retired successful the satellite and I'm not trying to beryllium a recluse."

Mr Gates, who has spent overmuch of his beingness arsenic the richest idiosyncratic successful the world, has fixed tens of billions of pounds to philanthropic causes, often targeted astatine planetary health, particularly children.

He present divides his clip betwixt clime change, and eradicating malnutrition and diseases specified arsenic polio and malaria.

On the question of whether helium is frugal successful his idiosyncratic life, Mr Gates said: "I don't person a gigantic closet. I don't deterioration jewellery. When I'm unwrapping a present, I don't instrumentality the wrapping and fold it up and usage it again. My grandma ne'er threw a insubstantial container successful her beingness oregon immoderate drawstring connected a package. So by her standards, I'm crazy."

Mr Gates divorced his wife, Melinda, successful May 2021. When asked if helium would similar to find emotion again, helium said: "Sure, I'm not a robot."

Amol Rajan Interviews: Bill Gates is connected BBC Two 19.30 GMT connected Friday, and connected request connected BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds afterwards.