USA: Bill Gates, a co-founder of Microsoft, thinks Elon Musk's self-proclaimed mission to save humanity from extinction by colonising Mars is a poor use of his fortune and would be better used for initiatives like mass vaccination to save lives here on Earth.

While acknowledging in an interview with the BBC published on Friday that some of Musk's endeavours, like the electric vehicle company Tesla, "are having a positive impact," Gates claimed he does not believe Musk to be a real philanthropist.

At the end of the day, he can't possibly spend all of his money on himself, "other than going to Mars a few times, which might cost a little bit," Gates continued. "I think some day he will join the ranks of philanthropists using his ingenuity."

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Gates argued that issues like widespread vaccination are more urgent and immediate than a Mars mission. In the interview, he admitted that travelling to Mars is actually quite expensive. "Vaccines against measles can be purchased for $1,000 per life saved. It merely serves to anchor you, as in "don't go to Mars."

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The relationship between the two billionaires has been tense recently, and this is not the first time Gates has attacked the founder of SpaceX. According to media reports from May, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation allegedly spent millions of dollars to try to prevent Musk from buying Twitter.

Gates was accused of hypocrisy in response by the new owner of Twitter. In a leaked private message that was later verified to be genuine, Musk wrote, "Sorry but I cannot take your philanthropy on climate change seriously when you have a massive short position on Tesla."

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Insisting that human colonisation of Mars is the only way the species will avoid a "mass extinction crisis," Musk has made no secret of his desire for this to happen. Even though the spacecraft is still in its experimental stage, Musk described his desire to send thousands of Starship rockets to Mars by the year 2050 in a 2022 TED interview, referring to them as "modern Noah's Arks."