Bill Gates isn't sure if Google's Project Loon, an effort to bring giant balloons that give wireless Internet to under-developed parts of the world, is really a worthwhile effort.
During an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek, Gates, who has his own nonprofit organization, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, that works to rid developing nations of malaria, was asked if he thinks bringing Internet to parts of the world will help solve any problems and he did not have favorable things to say.
"When you're dying of malaria, I suppose you'll look up and see the balloon, and I'm not sure how it'll help you."
Gates takes the issue of helping under-developed countries overseas very seriously. Gates has expressed disappointment with Google's charitable initiatives in the past.
"When a kid gets diarrhea, no, there's no website that relieves that," he said. "Certainly I'm a huge believe in the digital revolution. And connecting up primary-health-care centers, connecting up schools, those are good things. But no, those are not, for the really low-income countries, unless you directly say we're going to do something about malaria."
Gates does admit that getting doctors and schools synced up will be a positive benefit coming from Google's Project Loon. However, he seems to feel that a company with that many resources should be doing more to help than bringing WiFi to the areas.
Google operates Google.org, a not-for-profit arm that develops technologies to help address global challenges, according to The Verge, Gates issue comes from the narrow scope of Google's efforts.
"Google started out saying they were going to do a broad set of things. They hired [former Google.org leader] Larry Brilliant, and they got fantastic publicity. And then they shut it all down. Now they're just doing their core thing. Fine. But the actors who just do their core thing are not going to uplift the poor."
