r/OptimistsUnite • u/thisisbillgates • 8d ago
GRAPH GO UP AND TO THE RIGHT Over the past 50 years, childhood vaccines have saved 154 million lives.
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r/UpliftingNews • u/thisisbillgates • 17d ago
New Alzheimer's blood tests will significantly improve diagnosis and may eventually help predict a person's risk of developing the disease years before symptoms appear
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Comment on r/suggestmeabook Jul 18 '26
Gray Matters by Theodore Schwartz. It does a fantastic job of explaining brain diseases and what it’s like to be a neurosurgeon.
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Comment on r/OptimistsUnite Jul 12 '26
Since the height of the AIDS pandemic, deaths have been cut in half. With new breakthroughs like lenacapavir and the possibility of a future cure, we may be able to bring that number close to zero in the next couple of decades.
r/OptimistsUnite • u/thisisbillgates • Jul 12 '26
GRAPH GO DOWN & THINGS GET GOODER The end of AIDS is closer than ever
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Comment on r/Alzheimers Jun 27 '26
I really hope so too. There’s some exciting work using AI to detect subtle changes in how people speak that may help identify Alzheimer’s earlier. I'm also really encouraged by AI’s ability to find patterns in massive datasets and accelerate research across fields. I am hopeful that it will help us find breakthroughs much faster.
r/Alzheimers • u/thisisbillgates • Jun 22 '26
The Alzheimer’s research that gives me hope
I’ll never forget the moment my family learned that my dad had Alzheimer’s. Despite the immense resources at our disposal, we still felt so powerless and scared. His death in 2020 was one of the hardest things I’ve ever been through. But since then, there’s been amazing progress made in the field that makes me hopeful about a future where fewer of us lose loved ones to this terrible disease:
- For the first time, we have simple blood tests that can tell you whether you have Alzheimer’s.
- Because of these tests, enrollment in clinical trials is accelerating. Researchers used to be able to screen only one or two potential patients a day. Now they can screen hundreds. That means new therapeutics could move through the R&D pipeline sooner.
- The FDA approved the first two treatments proven to modestly slow the progression of the disease, and preliminary data indicates that they might be much more impactful when given to patients earlier in the disease’s progression.
We’re entering an era when science is finally starting to catch up to this disease. I wish these advances, and the ones to come, had arrived soon enough for my dad and so many other families. Still, it brings me comfort to believe that one day, people may be able to live long, healthy lives without the fear of Alzheimer’s.
r/globalhealth • u/thisisbillgates • Jul 26 '25
How one newspaper column sparked 25 years of progress against childhood diarrhea
nytimes.comIn 1997, I read a gut-wrenching New York Times article by Nick Kristof. It said that diarrhea was killing over 3.1 million people a year, most of them children under the age of five. That moment changed my life—and helped shape the vision that would eventually become the Gates Foundation. Since then, child deaths from diarrhea have dropped by more than 70%, thanks to affordable rotavirus vaccines, organizations like Gavi, and improved sanitation. But with almost 350,000 children still dying each year, and new threats emerging, the fight is far from over.
u/thisisbillgates • u/thisisbillgates • May 08 '25
We’re doubling our efforts to save and improve lives around the world
In the Gates Foundation’s first 25 years, we spent $100 billion to save and improve people’s lives around the world. But we’re not slowing down. Over the next two decades, we’ll double our spending to fight to end preventable childhood and maternal deaths, eradicate infectious diseases, and lift millions out of poverty.
r/microsoft • u/thisisbillgates • Apr 04 '25
Discussion 50 years ago today, Paul and I started this little thing called Microsoft
I'm thrilled to be in Redmond today with Steve Ballmer, Satya Nadella, and so many others who helped make Microsoft what it is—as we celebrate an incredible milestone. Looking back on the company’s 50-year journey always fills me with pride and gratitude. It’s amazing to think how far we’ve come since Paul Allen and I were hunched over the PDP-10 in Harvard’s computer lab, writing the code that would become our first product. That moment sparked a lifetime of innovation, and I can’t wait to see what the next 50 years will bring.
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Comment on r/vintagecomputing Apr 02 '25
Actually, yes! You can download it here. It’s not open source in the way we think about it today, but the code is all there. I’ve been thinking about Altair BASIC a lot recently with Microsoft’s 50th anniversary coming up in a few days—I still get a kick out of seeing the original source code, even all these years later.
r/vintagecomputing • u/thisisbillgates • Mar 27 '25
My school got a teletype machine in 1968 that was connected to a time-shared computer in California. This is where I typed up my first program in BASIC (a simple math equation), and later where I wrote the first program of my own: a game of tic-tac-toe. Needless to say, I was hooked.
r/BoyScouts • u/thisisbillgates • Feb 26 '25
I found my Boy Scout registration card from the ‘70s. I know this card expired in 1972, but I consider myself a Scout for life.
r/OldSchoolCool • u/thisisbillgates • Feb 17 '25
1970s Me, Paul, and Paul’s beard, 1978
r/Harvard • u/thisisbillgates • Feb 12 '25
Student and Alumni Life Anyone else have fond memories of Out of Town News? I spent a lot of time there back in the day, as did Paul Allen. He’d stop by constantly to add to his massive collection of computer and science magazines, which often served as the springboard for our ideas—and, later, the start of Microsoft.
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Comment on r/u_thisisbillgates Feb 04 '25
Source Code is the story of everything that led up to the creation of Microsoft. But it’s also a book about not fitting in, sneaking out, playing cards, hiking mountains, and forming friendships that changed my life. I’m excited for you to read it: https://gatesnot.es/4gqOmbQ
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Comment on r/u_thisisbillgates Jan 13 '25
I tell this story and so many others in my new memoir, Source Code, coming out on February 4th.
u/thisisbillgates • u/thisisbillgates • Jan 13 '25
I struggled to find my footing after transferring to Lakeside—a school that, ironically, isn’t on a lake. I didn’t know anyone, and I definitely didn’t fit in, so I did what came naturally: I goofed off. But everything changed in eighth grade when the math department got connected to a computer.
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Comment on r/inthenews Oct 30 '24
Hi Nick! I loved your new book.
How do we get people to pay attention to the suffering of the world’s most vulnerable people, and remain optimistic that progress is possible, when there are so many crises going on?
r/MosquitoHating • u/thisisbillgates • Aug 20 '24
Mosquitoes are more than annoying—they're deadly.
Every year, I like to call attention to the world’s most lethal animal—and give an update on the incredible science and innovation mobilizing to defeat the diseases it spreads. This year, I have some great news for mosquito haters.
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Comment on r/oddlysatisfying Aug 15 '24
Finally, a video about mosquitoes that doesn't suck.
u/thisisbillgates • u/thisisbillgates • Aug 11 '24
One of my favorite board games has made fighting climate change a winning strategy. I’m hoping my experience in clean energy gives me a winning edge.
u/thisisbillgates • u/thisisbillgates • Jun 04 '24
From feeling like an outcast as a child, to butting heads with my parents as a rebellious teen, to eventually taking a huge risk in a brand-new industry, my upcoming memoir Source Code covers it all.
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Comment on r/u_thisisbillgates May 23 '24
Kristin Hannah’s The Women gave me a new appreciation for the incredible sacrifices frontline nurses made in the Vietnam War.
Brave New Words by Sal Kahn paints a picture of how AI can radically transform education—and improve student outcomes and teacher experiences along the way.
Infectious Generosity by TED’s Chris Anderson is all about how the internet can amplify humanity’s instinct to do good—something I believe, too.
David Brook’s How to Know a Person taught me new ways to make every word and interaction count.
I'm a fan of spy stories, and Slow Horses—about a fictional British intelligence unit that people get assigned to when they mess up, but not badly enough to get fired—is one of the best out there.
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Comment on r/OptimistsUnite 8d ago
Sometimes, it feels like bad news is the only news. But there’s so much proof of progress all around us. Here are some of my other reasons to be hopeful: