Bill Gates: Epstein Ties Were a “Huge Mistake,” Record is “Clear”

By Staff, Agencies

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said he should not be defined by his past association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, calling the relationship a “huge mistake” and insisting his record should be judged on his actions and positions today.

Speaking to Axios on Thursday, Gates acknowledged that he “made mistakes” and said he had changed, while maintaining that his dealings with Epstein were limited and aimed at raising funds for philanthropic projects.

Gates has denied any involvement in Epstein’s criminal activity and previously told Congress that the financier later attempted to blackmail him over extramarital affairs.

Meanwhile, Gates has turned his attention to what he describes as a potentially transformative but dangerous AI era. In a sweeping essay this week, he said artificial intelligence could become “the greatest equalizer ever invented” or “the worst source of injustice,” warning that governments remain unprepared for the coming social and economic disruption.

Gates acknowledged his potential bias, noting that he has benefited enormously from the technology sector, maintains financial ties to the industry and works with Microsoft and other AI companies through the Gates Foundation.

He warned that AI could replace human workers across fields including law, medicine, customer service, software and manufacturing, potentially creating new jobs but “far fewer than exist today.”

He also cautioned that increasingly accessible AI could make cyberattacks and biological weapons easier to develop, while autonomous weapons, surveillance and public-opinion manipulation could become more powerful and accessible.

Ultimately, Gates warned that increasingly capable AI systems could “begin to act against our interests and we could lose control.”

The warning echoes his 2015 TED talk, in which he cautioned that the world was unprepared for a major epidemic. His later prominence in global health policy and the Gates Foundation’s participation in a 2019 pandemic simulation fueled conspiracy theories accusing him of planning the COVID-19 outbreak and profiting from vaccines, claims he dismissed as “crazy” and “evil.”

Gates said he would support a credible international plan to restrain AI development, but argued that “geopolitical and economic incentives are pushing too hard to go full speed ahead.”