Billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has responded to the conspiracy theories about him involving COVID-19, saying in a new interview that such theories are "crazy" and "evil."

　　Speaking to Reuters, Gates said the wild conspiracies about himself and US infectious disease leader Anthony Fauci have been driven in part by social media. He wondered if people actually believe the wild accusations or if they're just trying to have fun and get a rise.

　　"Nobody would have predicted that I and Dr. Fauci would be so prominent in these really evil theories," he said. "I'm very surprised by that. I hope it goes away."

　　Through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the tech billionaire and his wife gave more than $1.75 billion to help with various campaigns related to COVID-19 and the global health crisis. Despite this philanthropy, people on some corners of the internet believe Gates actually started the virus and he's now trying to control the population by putting micro-chips in the vaccine.

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　　"But do people really believe that stuff?," Gates wondered. "We're really going to have to get educated about this over the next year and understand ... how does it change peoples' behavior and how should we have minimized this?"

　　Gates co-hosts a podcast with actress and activist Rashida Jones where they discuss big topics, like if people can really change, is it too late to stop climate change, and why people believe lies. It's a fascinating interview series, and Gates has a lot of thoughts and opinions on how the world works.