Although Microsoft founder Bill Gates sat down for an interview with The Associated Press to discuss his new memoir, “Source Code: My Beginnings,” he also shared his views on a variety of other topics, including vaccine conspiracy views about him, his thoughts on the struggles of longtime computer chipmaker Intel and his take on the antitrust challenges facing Google.
Having poured billions of dollars into diseases such as polio and malaria through his foundation, Gates was dumbfounded about the conspiracy theories that erupted during the pandemic about the COVID vaccine being tied to his efforts to kill people or other sinister agendas.
Although he remains puzzled by it all, Gates isn't too worried yet, even if outspoken vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is confirmed as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in President Donald Trump's administration.
“Things don’t always go in a straight line,” Gates said. “If you had said to me that at a time where we’ve cut child’s deaths in half since the turn of the century, and the main reason is vaccines, but their reputation would be more confused today than ever, I would have said, ‘Are you kidding? These are miracles.’”
“For somebody with a logical view like I try to have, it is confounding you have those conspiracy theories. I hope that dies down. I don’t think we will have something bad happen. Because these infectious diseases are at very low levels in the U.S., you don’t have this immediate, ‘Oh my, God, we didn’t take measles vaccines,’ and sadly here are these people who died. In Africa, that happens very quickly because measles is everywhere and kids are malnourished. So it just takes a little bit longer that sadly people have to see deaths before they get reconnected to the miraculous value that vaccines provide.”
Gates might have gone done a different career path if Intel hadn't made the technological breakthroughs that created a tiny chip capable of powering a personal computer during the early 1970s. That advance created the need for programs to use the computer, prompting Gates and Paul Allen to launch Micro-Soft, a name derived from microprocessor and software (the hyphen was later dropped).
That's why Gates has a soft spot for Intel, which missed the shift from PCs to smartphones 18 years ago, just as Microsoft did. But Microsoft has bounced back while Intel's troubles have deteriorated to the point that it's looking for a new CEO since the abrupt departure of Pat Gelsinger in December, raising worries about whether the company will survive. Although he is rooting for Intel, Gates has his doubts about a comeback.
“I am stunned that Intel basically lost its way,” Gates said. “(Intel co-founder) Gordon Moore always kept Intel at the state of the art. And now they are kind of behind in terms of chip design and they are kind of behind in chip fabrication. And both of those are very capital intensive. They missed the AI chip revolution, and with their fabrication capabilities, they don’t even use standards that people like Nvidia and Qualcomm find easy. I thought Pat Gelsinger was very brave to say, ‘No, I am going to fix the design side, I am going to fix the fab side.’ I was hoping for his sake, for the country’s sake that he would be successful. I hope Intel recovers, but it looks pretty tough for them at this stage.”
Gates spent his final years as Microsoft's CEO entangled in a high-profile antitrust case brought by the U.S. Justice Department to break up the software maker. Although Microsoft remained intact, the company was declared an illegal monopoly and the case caused a major distraction that paved the way for a then-cuddly startup Google to build a search engine that became a household word and then diversify into other areas, including making the Android software that powers virtually all of the world's smartphones besides Apple's iPhone.
A quarter century later, Google's search franchise has been branded an illegal monopoly by another federal judge in another Justice Department case that unfolded during the rise of artificial intelligence — a field where Microsoft has been making significant inroads as part of the partnership. The Justice Department has now proposed imposing various restrictions designed to undercut Google's power and also is seeking a court order to force the company to sell its Chrome web browser. So Gates understands what Google has been going through like few others.
“The success of Google is an amazing thing, they led the way on search,” Gates said. "The area that Google did well in that would not have happened had I not been distracted is Android, where it was a natural thing for me. I was trying, although what I didn’t do well enough is provide the operating system for the phone. That was ours for the taking.
“Google is the first company that comes along that is like us, that’s trying to hire as many smart people as they can. And, even though search was important to them, they just decided to do YouTube and Office-type software and cloud-type infrastructure. They did a lot of things. Our other competitors up to that point were single-product companies. So that competition with Google has been very healthy. I don’t envy anyone having antitrust problems but in America, if you are hyper-successful, it’s almost like confirmation that, ‘Wow, you must have done really well., and now they are wondering how to tame you. Microsoft learned a lot and, so far, by and large, we have stayed out of trouble since then.”
