Big tech companies like Apple need to witness criticism from governments, founder and former CEO Bill Gates said in an interview, a kind of question that big companies should naturally expect to go through.
In a continuation of a series of interviews with various stores, Gates suggested that Apple-sized tech companies should pay special attention to officials and regulators, simply because of their sheer size and power.
Talk to Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast, Gates stated that the events of the July 29 House Judiciary Committee testimony with Apple’s Tim Cook and the CEOs of Amazon, Facebook, and Google are largely to be expected, and that the level of control will be intense.
“If you’re as successful as I am, as one of those people you are, you deserve rude, unjust, tough questions,” Gates said. “The government deserves to have shots fired at you. That kind of grilling comes with the super successful territory, it’s good.
Gates speaks from experience, as his leadership of Microsoft involved many instances where he was questioned by lawmakers and other parties. Most notable was the incident in the 1998 U.S. lawsuit against Microsoft, in which the government accused Microsoft of illegally maintaining software, one that was heavily involved with Gates videotapes.
The interview also addressed Gates’ opinion of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who was also raised in an earlier interview. Referring to him again as a “wizard” compared to Gates as a “minor wizard”, Gates also suggested that Jobs was “tough” and was “a genius” in repaying Apple on his return.
The 97-minute podcast covers a wide range of other topics, including the movie Spy Game, Vaccinations, and Diet Coke.
.
