Big Tech is not entirely on Elon Musk’s side at the moment.
In an interview with The Times of London, Bill Gates, Big Tech icon and Microsoft founder, tore into Elon Musk and his meddling in global politics. “It’s really insane that he can destabilize the political situations in countries,” Musk told The Times. Gates stressed that foreign nations should “adopt safeguards” in order to prevent “super-rich foreigners from distorting their elections.”
Gates points to Musk’s involvement in U.K. politics as an example. Musk has said that right-wing politician Nigel Farage “doesn’t have what it takes” to be the leader of the U.K.’s far-right political party Reform U.K. While Musk was previously a supporter of Farage, a rift grew between the two over support for jailed anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson – whom Musk believes should be a freed member of Reform. Farage disagrees, and Musk has since withdrawn his support from the politician. “You want to promote the right wing but say Nigel Farage is not right wing enough,” said Gates of Musk’s involvement. “I mean, this is insane sh**.”
Gates went on to criticize Musk for his support of the AfD – a far-right wing political party in Germany that seeks to reduce immigration, calling it an “invasion of foreigners.” In a speech to the AfD, Musk said the German government has “too much of a focus on past guilt” – flying in the face of Germany’s post-war effort to purge Nazism and fascist thought from its society. Despite the thousands of German citizens that protest the AfD, Musk believes that the populist party is Germany’s “best hope.”
Musk recently faced his own accusations of fascism after performing a straight-armed salute during a speech reminiscent of Nazi Germany. “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks,” wrote Musk in response to the accusation on X. “The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”
Musk has demonstrated an unprecedented level of political influence in American politics. After donating a quarter billion dollars to the Trump campaign, Musk became a fixture in Donald Trump’s entourage. Musk and Trump soon became inseparable, and the billionaire reportedly spent $2000 a night to stay at a cottage on the grounds of Mar-a-Lago in order to remain in Trump’s orbit as he prepared to take office. In the lead-up to Trump’s presidency, Musk created political friction within the Republican Party when he tanked a bipartisan government spending package through a series of tweets. The move led Trump administration critics to label Musk a “Shadow President” that was secretly pulling Trump’s strings.
When it comes to the Trump administration, Musk isn’t Gates’ only concern. Gates pointed to fellow tech giant Mark Zuckerberg’s recent decision to roll back fact-checking on social media as cause for alarm. “The whole social media networking problem, including how it affects young people and allows crazy non-factual things to achieve critical mass, worries me,” explained Gates. “I am very disappointed that neither governments nor companies seem to be fixing or improving these things.” Gates went on to highlight “vaccine misinformation” as a chief concern. Considering that the Trump administration has tapped one of the world’s most high profile vaccine conspiracy theorists to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Gates’ fears are far from unfounded.
Outside of tech industry giants and their effect on government policies, Gates cites global political extremism to be one of his top concerns. “Polarization is very dangerous,” Gates said, and he fears that even left-leaning political parties have “swung right” in order to compensate for growing levels of populist thought around the globe, and Elon Musk certainly isn’t helping.
Published: Jan 27, 2025 7:54 PM UTC