Bill Gates has issued some pretty big warnings in recent years — about the next pandemic or avoiding a "climate disaster" — but the billionaire says he's actually very optimistic about the future.

"You can accuse me of being by nature an optimistic person," Gates told The New York Times in an interview that published on Thursday. "But I just think I'm being realistic. I think it's objective to say to you that things will be better in the next 20 years."

Gates' positive outlook comes at a precarious time of geopolitical instability: multiple global conflicts and a trade war that's roiled markets around the world.

Gates himself recently lamented decisions by the U.S. and other world governments to slash tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid, writing in a Thursday blog post that "it's unclear whether the world's richest countries will continue to stand up for its poorest people." He added that "no philanthropic organization ... can make up the gulf in funding that's emerging right now."

Still, Gates is adamant that his "optimism hasn't been shaken," he told the Times. On Thursday, the Microsoft co-founder laid out "ambitious" plans to hand out $200 billion in aid through the Gates Foundation over the next two decades, and then close the foundation down.

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With those funds, he hopes to reduce preventable deaths of mothers and children around the world, eradicate diseases like polio, malaria, measles and Guinea-worm disease, and help "hundreds of millions of people break free from poverty" by funding advances in education and agriculture in African nations, he wrote in his blog post.

"The truth is, there have never been more opportunities to help people live healthier, more prosperous lives," wrote Gates. "Advances in technology are happening faster than ever, especially with artificial intelligence on the rise."

Gates wishes the world didn't have to rely on AI advancements as a sort of "magic wand" — the billionaire has frequently touted the tech's potential to improve global health and education — but the technology will boost his foundation's ability to reach its goals by 2045, he told the Times.

Gates' reasons for hope

Gates' optimism isn't solely reliant on AI.

Since 1990, the world's child mortality rate has been more than cut in half, thanks to broader access to advanced medical care, vaccinations and improved nutrition, according to the World Health Organization. 

Even after accounting for multiple countries cutting their foreign aid budgets in recent months, new medical advances — from vaccines to nutritional education initiatives — could make inroads toward cutting the child mortality rate in half yet again, Gates wrote in his blog. The same goes for working toward eradicating diseases like malaria and slowing the spread of HIV/AIDS, he added.

Gates also wrote that he's hopeful other billionaires will increase "the pace and scale of their giving," pointing to younger generations of wealthy philanthropists who can pick up the mantle once the Gates Foundation shuts down.

Among them: Meta co-founders Mark Zuckerberg and Dustin Moskovitz, who both signed The Giving Pledge, in which they each publicly promised to give away the bulk of their wealth during their lifetimes. MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has become a prominent philanthropist in recent years, giving over $19 billion to hundreds of different organizations since 2019.

"Even with all the challenges that the world faces, I'm optimistic about our ability to make progress — because each breakthrough is yet another chance to make someone's life better," Gates wrote.

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