Elon Musk says Bill Gates is ‘not strong in the sciences,’ questions Microsoft founder’s expertise

bill gates, elon musk

Elon Musk is particularly not known for being subtle with other founders and leaders of the brands. This time around Musk has commented on Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and has commented on his Science knowledge. In a interview, Musk has said that Microsoft co-founder “is not strong in the sciences.” questioning Gates’ technical understanding despite his decades-long association with one of the most influential technology firms in the world.

“You’d think that someone like Bill Gates, who started a technology company that’s one of the biggest companies in the world — Microsoft — you’d think he’d be really quite strong in the sciences,” Musk said. “But actually, he is not strong in the sciences.”

Musk added a light-hearted jab while referencing the late pop star Michael Jackson, saying, “I just wanna say, Billy G is not my lover.”

The remark continues a history of tension between the two billionaires, who have publicly disagreed on topics such as electric vehicles, renewable energy, and philanthropy. Musk has previously criticized Gates for shorting Tesla’s stock and for what he describes as a limited understanding of battery technology.

Beyond the comments about Gates, Musk also discussed his views on climate change, calling for a balanced approach between denial and alarmism. “You’ve just had people who say it doesn’t exist at all, and then people who are super alarmist saying Florida is going to be underwater in five years,” he said. “Obviously, neither of those two positions are true.”

Musk said the impact of carbon emissions on the planet’s atmosphere is measurable and gradual. “If you continue to take billions, eventually trillions of tons of carbon from deep underground, and transfer it to the atmosphere and oceans, you will change the chemical constituency of the atmosphere and oceans,” he noted. “You just literally will.”

Musk estimated that climate change would become a significant challenge in about five decades, urging a pragmatic shift toward renewable energy. “The concern level for climate change is on the order of 50 years,” he said. “It’s definitely not 5, and I think it probably isn’t 500.”

He concluded by suggesting that a measured transition toward sustainable energy is the most reasonable path forward. “Really, the right course of action is actually just the reasonable course of action, which is to lean in the direction of sustainable energy,” Musk said