Elon Musk calls Bill Gates 'huge liar' over 'killing world's poorest' claim

Bill Gates blamed Elon Musk for USAID's shutdown and its fallout on child welfare. Now Musk has retaliated with Epstein references and questioned Gates' credibility

Billionaire Elon Musk has called Bill Gates a “huge liar" after the Microsoft co-founder accused him of "killing the world’s poorest children" by shutting down USAID, the United States’ international development agency.

 

The spat escalated after Gates’ remarks in an interview with the Financial Times, where he alleged that Musk’s budget cuts to foreign aid would result in millions of child deaths.

 

Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk dismissed Gates’ comments, calling them “false statements” and personally targeting Gates over his past ties with Jeffrey Epstein.

 

“Who does Bill Gates think he is to make comments about the welfare of children, given that he was very close with Jeffrey Epstein… I wouldn’t want that guy to babysit my kid,” Musk said.

 

“World’s richest killing worlds’ poorest”

 

Bill Gates had criticised Musk’s role in the dismantling of USAID, saying, “The picture of the world’s richest man killing the world’s poorest children is not a pretty one.”  Gates’ concerns centre on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — formerly led by Musk — which spearheaded deep budget cuts, including shutting down USAID in February 2025.  DOGE had labelled the agency a “criminal organisation” and said it was “time for it to die.”  Gates claimed that abrupt cuts halted vital aid delivery, leaving life-saving goods and medicines stuck in warehouses and depriving millions of vulnerable children of essential support.

 

Gates is also accused of enabling “genocide”

 

Notably, Gates is also not spared from the accusations he is making against Musk. Recently, several Microsoft employees quit the company in protest against Microsoft's business alignments with Israel amid the ongoing war in Palestine’s Gaza. Since the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel has killed more than 55,000 Palestinians, half of whom are children, which the United Nations (UN) has described as the “genocide”.

 

On Thursday, May 15, 2025, Microsoft admitted that it has provided advanced artificial intelligence and cloud computing services during its war on Gaza. However, the tech giant claimed that it was not used in harming the people.  

 

“Microsoft provides IMOD with software, professional services, Azure cloud services, and Azure AI services, including language translation. As with many governments around the world, we also work with the Israeli government to protect its national cyberspace against external threats,” Microsoft said in its statement. 

 

However, several Microsoft employees alleged that the company’s services, including Azure cloud services, are directly being used in the war on Gaza. They also staged protests on several occasions, including at the company’s annual developer conference on Monday, May 19, 2025.