--- title: "Bill Gates Says All Wealthy Nations Should Switch to Synthetic Beef" description: "Bill Gates recommends that all wealthy nations should invest in 100% synthetic meat. Find out why eating synthetic beef can help the planet." date: "2021-02-15" modified: "2021-02-24" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/bill-gates-synthetic-beef" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "Bill Gates" - "fake meat" - "the digest" --- # Bill Gates Says All Wealthy Nations Should Switch to Synthetic Beef ![Bill Gates is coming down hard in favor of fake meats — and even recommending that every single "rich country" move away from real beef as soon as possible.]() *\Image: Futurism\* ## Got Beef During the 1990s, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates picked up a bad boy reputation for taking a hard line in the company's antitrust spat with the United States government. But for decades since stepping away from the software giant, Gates has rebranded as a philanthropist and policy advocate for humanitarian and policy issues including public health, climate change, and hunger. Now, in an [electrifying interview with *MIT Tech Review*]() that touches on all those initiatives and more, Gates is coming down hard in favor of fake meats — and even recommending that every single "rich country" on Earth move away from real beef as soon as possible. ## Meat and Greet Gates said that what he called the "80 poorest countries" will still be eating actual cows for a while. But he's optimistic about the developed world's path to fake meat. "I do think all rich countries should move to 100 percent synthetic beef," the billionaire told *MIT Tech*. "You can get used to the taste difference, and the claim is they’re going to make it taste even better over time." ## Cell Division Interestingly, Gates said he's optimistic that plant-based beef replacements can replace meat from actual cattle without lab-grown meat taking over the market. To underscore the point, he slammed Memphis Meats — a lab meat company that [he has himself invested in]() — and praised a pair of plant-based competitors with which he also has had [financial]() [relationships](). "Now the people like Memphis Meats who do it at a cellular level — I don’t know that that will ever be economical," he said in the*MIT Tech* interview. "But Impossible and Beyond have a road map, a quality road map and a cost road map, that makes them totally competitive." Of course, Gates is an influential thinker and policy shaper — but take it all with a grain of salt. After all, this is the guy who thought Internet Explorer was going to dominate the browser market. **READ MORE:** [Bill Gates: Rich nations should shift entirely to synthetic beef]() \[*MIT Tech*\] **More on Bill Gates:** [*Bill Gates Says the Next Horrible Virus Could Be Engineered by Terrorists*]() ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()