Why Mars? Buy measles vaccine instead: Bill Gates slams Elon Musk's vision
1 min read . Updated: 04 Feb 2023, 01:34 PM IST
Premium- Bill Gates takes a dig at Elon Musk, says it was not a ‘good use of money’ to go to Mars
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has questioned Elon Musk's dream of setting up a human colony on Mars. In an interview with BBC, Gates said that it was not a "good use of money" to go to Mars.
He said that funding vaccine development was a better use of cash than putting people on Mars.
“It’s actually quite expensive to go to Mars," he said. “You can buy measles vaccines and save lives for a thousand dollars per life saved."
“It just kind of grounds you. Don’t go to Mars".
When asked whether Musk's current priorities would make him a good 'philanthropist'. Gates responded by saying he doesn't think Musk is one currently but that this may change in the future.
Gates lauded Musk's electric car vision and Tesla. He said, " Things like Tesla are having a positive impact, even without being a form of philanthropy. I think someday he will join the rank of philanthropists using his ingenuity".
Musk and Gates have been at odds in the past.
Last year, Musk turned down Gates' offer to collaborate on philanthropic efforts to combat climate change. A leaked text on media also appeared between the two billionaires in which Musk told Gates he cannot take him "seriously when you have a massive short position against Tesla".
Musk asked Gates if he was short-selling Tesla, means, betting that the price of the electric carmaker’s stock would fall.
In a Bloomberg interview in 2021, Gates said that he wished he had “been more on the long side" of Tesla when asked about Musk’s claims.
Further Gates said that he 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.
