Bill Gates courts controversy for calling 'India a kind of laboratory to try things'. See viral video

Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, is receiving backlash on social media after referring to India as "a kind of laboratory to try things". He made the remarks during a podcast with LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman and now the viral clip is receiving flak from Indian commentators. His remark left many fuming, with people calling him out for his comment.

What did Bill Gates say on India?

Bill Gates' remark, while intended to highlight India's progress and its collaboration with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, have revived a controversial 2009 clinical trial -- funded by Gates' foundation -- which killed seven tribal schoolgirls and left many others severely ill.

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"India is an example of a country where there's plenty of things that are difficult there -- the health, education, nutrition is improving and they are stable enough and generating their own government revenue enough that it's very likely that 20 years from now people will be dramatically better off and it's kind of a laboratory to try things that then when you prove them out in India, you can take to other places," Bill Gates said.

"And so our biggest non-US office for the Foundation is in India and the most number of pilot roll out things we're doing anywhere in the world are with partners in India," Bill Gates said.

"If you go there and you've never been you might think whoa this is a chaotic place and you know you're not used to so many levels of income all being on the street at the same time but you will get a sense of vibrancy," Gates said.


His choice of words did not go down well with the Indian audience and struck a nerve among them. Among the critics was a Scotland-based doctor, known as “The Skin Doctor” on X, who brought up a 2009 clinical trial conducted by PATH (Programme for Appropriate Technology in Health), an NGO funded by the Gates Foundation.

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Bill Gates under fire for his remarks on India

An X user reacted to the remark and wrote, “India is a laboratory, and we Indians are Guinea Pigs for Bill Gates. This person has managed everyone from the Government to opposition parties to the media. His office operates here without FCRA, and our education system has made him a hero! I don't know when we will wake up!” The social media user posted a snippet of the podcast.

Another user suggested that Gates views people in India as subjects for experimentation, with the implication that successful initiatives are later adopted in the US. The user wrote, “The human beings in India are samples for Bill Gates’ laboratory to try things and once they are proven to be effective, taken to the US. This clip doesn’t sound right no matter in what context you hear this. That’s why researches backed by governments can often have vested interests. Didn’t @elonmusk raise this as well?"

One other user called Bill Gates “disgusting," commenting, “India is his lab and the people of India & other 3rd world countries his lab rats. He is DISGUSTING!! This dude doesn’t even have a HS diploma and he is poisoning everything!!"

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However, a few expressed that the flak against Microsoft co-founder is unnecessary. Just like this individual who wrote, “I genuinely don't understand this conspiracy theory attitude against Bill Gates in India. There's no guinea pig-style experiments for vaccines happening in India, period!”

Gates’ comments come months after he visits India earlier this year for Gates Foundation work. His trip included stops at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a visit to the Microsoft India Development Center in Hyderabad and a trip to Odisha.

Earlier in an interview with PTI, Bill Gates praised India for its focus on solving the problem of malnutrition. He said he would give the country "an A" for its efforts.

“Well, India, for its income level, acknowledges that some of these nutritional indicators are weaker than it would like. That kind of frankness and focus on it, I think is very impressive,” he said.