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Amid the major challenges and changes that society faces today, from artificial intelligence to climate change to economic inequality, Bill Gates says he is optimistic that solutions can be found to improve the world.
The 68-year-old billionaire Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist addresses those issues and more in his new five-part series, What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates, premiering Sept. 18 on Netflix.
PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the trailer that shows Gates chatting with notable experts and personalities such as Bono, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Dr. Anthony Fauci, filmmaker James Cameron — and Lady Gaga.
In one scene about AI, Gates is seen using ChatGPT to write a message to his son, Rory, in Gen Z slang. “Yo fam looks good,” he reads from his computer screen. “How you vibin’?”
The trailer also references disinformation in the age of social media as Gates reads a conspiracy-laced comment: “Bill Gates is part of a reptilian race that includes Tom Hanks and Lady Gaga.”
Then it quickly shifts to the billionaire’s conversation with Gaga, who says, “Entertainment and information are a lot closer than they ever have been before. There’s no way to stop it.”
Rob Liggins/Netflix
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Another moment shows Sanders speaking with Gates about Gates’ enormous fortune, which he’s dedicated to charitable causes.
“We have the obscene situation where there are three people — you being one of them — who own more wealth than the bottom half of America,” the progressive senator says, before asking, “Is the system working?”
As Gates says in the trailer, he feels there is a lot of work to be done, whether it is giving up hydrocarbons that affect the environment or eradicating diseases like malaria.
But there’s still room for hope.
At the end of the trailer, a person off-screen asks Gates if he can accomplish those goals, to which he responds: “Absolutely.”
Courtesy of Netflix
What’s Next? is executive produced by Morgan Neville, the director of the 2013 Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet From Stardom.
In addition to the aforementioned guests, Gates’ daughter Phoebe appears in the new Netflix series, too.
Courtesy of Netflix
Like her dad, Phoebe is devoting herself to philanthropy — she earlier told The Wall Street Journal that she is donating millions to abortion rights groups.
“There’s a tangible chance to make a change here,” Phoebe, 21, who recently graduated from Stanford University, told the newspaper.
What’s Next? The Future with Bill Gates begins streaming on Netflix on Sept. 18.
