By TOI Tech Desk
Publication Date: 2026-06-13 06:34:00
Bill Gates has flagged a quiet but pointed concern with the Trump administration’s growing habit of picking up equity stakes in private American companies, warning that the practice could end up rewarding ownership over engineering. Speaking to CNBC, the Microsoft co-founder said the trouble starts when the government begins favouring firms it part-owns over rivals with better technology. His larger worry is predictability: factory builds and chip fabs are 20-year bets, and policy that shifts on a weekly news cycle makes those bets harder to price.“Government operates best when it’s kind of predictable,” Gates told CNBC, adding that companies need to know what tariffs will look like for the next 20 years before they pour billions into a plant. The unease, he said, is about intent. Is Washington helping a nascent technology for the good of the country and treating all companies equally, or is it building a portfolio it then wants to protect? “The rules of the game we’re playing…
