Musk slammed Gates at the Qatar Economic Forum, saying he wouldn’t trust him to "babysit my kid."
Gates accused Musk of causing harm to poor children by slashing USAID funds through the DOGE initiative.
Their long-standing feud stems from Gates' shorting of Tesla stock while seeking climate collaboration.
Elon Musk and Bill Gates are once again making headlines for their ongoing feud, with Musk publicly criticising Gates for his previous association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. This follows Gates’ recent remarks blaming Musk for cutting US foreign aid programs, which Gates claims will endanger vulnerable children around the world.
During the conversation at the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk denied Gates’ comments and called him a liar. Furthermore, he questioned Gates’ credibility on child welfare issues, saying, “Who does Gates think he is to make comments about children’s welfare? He was very close to Epstein… I wouldn’t want that guy to babysit my kid.”
Musk made this claim in response to Gates’ criticism of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) initiative cuts to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in a Financial Times interview. For those who are unaware, Musk reportedly had an impact on the program prior to his recent resignation. Gates asserted that because of funding shortages, the cuts had jeopardised healthcare assistance in places like Mozambique and resulted in new HIV infections.
“The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one,” Gates remarked, referring to the hospital where HIV transmission from mother to child is prevented by cutting off funding. He continued by saying that a geographical mistake had led to the decision, conflating the Gaza Strip in the Middle East with the Gaza Province in Mozambique.
Musk sidestepped the question of whether he had seen any evidence to refute Gates’ claims, stating that Gates was responsible for providing it.
The two billionaires have been at odds for years, which is the source of their argument. After Gates allegedly shorted Tesla stock while trying to work with Musk on climate change partnerships, a move that Musk saw as incompatible with his support for clean energy, their relationship soured.
Musk defended the cuts to foreign aid as part of an effort to reduce inefficiencies in U.S. government spending. Musk has pushed for cost-cutting and operational reform through the DOGE initiative. But the criticism has sparked concerns about the practical effects of those cuts, especially from proponents of global health.
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Ashish Singh
Ashish Singh is the Chief Copy Editor at Digit. He's been wrangling tech jargon since 2020 (Times Internet, Jagran English '22). When not policing commas, he's likely fueling his gadget habit with coffee, strategising his next virtual race, or plotting a road trip to test the latest in-car tech. He speaks fluent Geek. View Full Profile
