FACT CHECK: Video of Bill Gates’ interview used to promote vaccine conspiracy is altered with AI

A video interview featuring Bill Gates on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) News has been digitally altered by Artificial intelligence (AI) to add false discussions on vaccines and Microsoft.

The video was broadly shared on Twitter and among different Instagram users.

A user by the handle, @meekystudios posted the video with the caption: “Wow where did this woman come from with clear shocking facts that made Bill Gates, a former richest man in the world staggering during his speech.” 

The post has over 28, 100 likes and 614 comments, and 1,203 shares.

Another user by the name @fqryonline also posted the video on Instagram where it gathered over 110k likes, 3,392 shares and 158k shares.

In the circulating video, Sarah Ferguson, an Australian Journalist, can be seen interviewing  Bill Gates, the Microsoft founder. 

“Mr Gates, in your own words, what have you contributed to the world?” she appeared to have asked.

“I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I created the world’s most popular computer operating system,” Gates seemingly replied.

After accusing him of stealing the Windows operating system from someone else, she then asked questions touching on COVID-19, in a manner suggesting that he profited from the vaccines.

A voice similar to that of the interviewer further asked: “You have been a major spokesperson for COVID vaccines during the pandemic, what exactly makes you – a computer engineer who didn’t even program his initial product himself – a valid representative of the pharmaceutical industry?”

“I have read a lot of books about that topic and met with specialists from the field all over the world,” Gates’ voice replied.

Finally, she can be heard asking if it is a behavioural pattern for Gates to steal complex technology he doesn’t “understand, selling a product full of bugs, causing massive damage and profiting from it in a spectacular way.”

VERIFICATION

Reading through the comment sections of the post on several platforms where it was shared, revealed that many viewers were unsuspecting the video was altered.

However, one social media user who had seen the original interview raised an alarm that the real version of the interview never had such a discussion on Microsoft and the COVID-19 vaccine.

Using a keyword search, TheCable found the original video which was posted by ABC News Australia on January 31, 2023.

Apparently, Bill Gates was interviewed by Sarah Ferguson, an Australian journalist, on the ABC News show called “7.30”.

Checks by TheCable revealed that no part of the conversation shared in the circulating video on social media appeared in the original video. 

In the authentic interview, the host touched on climate change, philanthropy, misinformation, the threat of another pandemic, and the dinners Gates regrettably had with Jeffrey Epstein.

Further analysis of the circulating video also shows that the audio does not align with the facial and lip movements of both the interviewer and Gates.

VERDICT

The circulating audio has been altered using deepfake technology. The content of the original interview shows a huge variance in content from what was discussed in the doctored video.