10 Breakthrough Technologies with Bill Gates

[Sponsored] In this episode: Microsoft co-founder and former CEO Bill Gates talks with Gideon Lichfield, MIT Technology Review’s Editor-in-Chief, about the magazine’s new list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies, which Gates curated. The magazine has been publishing its list of 10 Breakthrough Technologies (formerly 10 Emerging Technologies) annually since 2001 as a way to highlight the recent advances that could have the biggest impact in the near future. Usually the magazine’s expert editors and reporters put together the list, but this year we invited a special guest curator, Bill Gates, to share his own perspective on which emerging technologies could make the biggest difference for the largest number of people. Gates stepped aside as CEO of Microsoft in 2000 to focus, in part, on running the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. With more than $50 billion in assets, the foundation supports programs to address global problems like poverty child mortality, the spread of infectious disease, and limited access to healthcare and education. Befitting his practical outlook, Gates chose a few seemingly low-tech items for the list, such as better sanitation for cities without sewer systems and materials for sucking carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere. But he also included recognizably high-tech items like more dexterous robots, more conversational robots, and advanced fission reactor designs. Technology Review’s editor-in-chief, Gideon Lichfield, interviewed Gates at his Seattle office. Business Lab is hosted by Elizabeth Bramson-Boudreau, the CEO and publisher of MIT Technology Review. The show is produced by Wade Roush, with editorial help from Mindy Blodgett. The Bill Gates interview was produced by Daniel Lovering. Music by Merlean, from Epidemic Sound.