Bill Gates is back in the headlines for warning that unregulated AI could do catastrophic harm, and every time he says something like this, the same thing happens: people go looking for the Netflix series where he talks about exactly that, and half of them end up paying for something they didn't need to.

So before you tap "subscribe" on anything, run through this list. It takes two minutes and it has saved me real money more than once.

The before-you-subscribe checklist

  • Do you (or your household) already have Netflix? Both Gates docuseries live there and nowhere else.
  • Is the cheapest Netflix tier enough? For documentaries, yes.
  • Do you actually want the AI stuff, or his life story? They're two different series.
  • Have you checked the free options first? There are more than you'd think.
  • Is the old Microsoft movie a rental rather than a subscription trigger?
  • Did you set a cancel reminder?

Now let me explain each one, because the details are where the money leaks out.

1. Netflix is the whole game for the two big docuseries

There are two proper documentary series about Gates, and both are Netflix originals:

Inside Bill's Brain: Decoding Bill Gates (2019). Three episodes from Davis Guggenheim, mostly about how he thinks, plus the Gates Foundation work on sanitation, polio and nuclear energy. It's the biography one.

What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates (2024). Five episodes, and this is the one people are searching for this week. The first episode is entirely about AI, with Gates sitting down with people building it and people worried about it. If the current news is what sent you here, this is the episode.

Because they're Netflix originals, you won't find them on Hulu, Prime Video, Peacock or your library apps. Don't waste time searching around. Check first whether someone in your household already pays for Netflix. Since Netflix cracked down on password sharing, "someone in your household" means people at your address, so the days of borrowing a cousin's login across state lines are basically over.

2. The ad tier is fine for documentaries

This is my hill and I will die on it: nobody needs the $25 Netflix plan to watch a documentary about a guy talking about software.

As of my last check, Netflix in the US runs roughly three tiers. Standard with ads was about $8 a month, Standard without ads about $18, and Premium about $25. Prices move, so confirm on the sign-up page, but the gap between the cheapest and priciest plan has only gotten wider.

The ad tier does have a small catch: a handful of licensed titles are unavailable because of rights issues. Netflix originals are never in that group, so both Gates series play on the cheapest plan. The ads on a documentary are honestly less annoying than on a drama, since there's no tension to interrupt.

One more thing budget hunters need to hear: Netflix has not offered a free trial in the US for years. If a site promises you one, close the tab.

3. Know which series you actually want

I've seen people binge all three hours of Inside Bill's Brain waiting for the AI part. It never comes. That series was made in 2019, before ChatGPT, and the technology it obsesses over is nuclear reactors and toilets.

Quick guide:

  • Want Gates on AI, risk and regulation? What's Next?, episode 1. About 45 minutes.
  • Want the origin story, Microsoft, his mom, the reading bag? Inside Bill's Brain.
  • Want his take on climate, misinformation and inequality? The later episodes of What's Next? cover those.

If you only care about the AI episode, that's 45 minutes for one month of the ad tier. Still worth it if you'll use Netflix for other things that month. Not worth it if it's the only thing you'd watch, which brings me to the next item.

4. Check the free options first

This is the part I actually enjoy.

Gates' own YouTube channel is free and surprisingly good. He posts long-form conversations, explainer videos and the interviews he does around his books, and the AI material there covers most of the same ground as the Netflix episode, just without the Hollywood polish. It's official, it's legal, and it costs nothing.

TED has his talks free on its site and app, including the 2015 pandemic-preparedness talk that got a second life a few years later. Not AI, but it's the clearest example of how he frames risk.

Late-night and news interviews land on the networks' official YouTube channels within a day. The Daily Show, Colbert, the morning shows: the clips people share are almost always the official uploads. If you want full episodes, The Daily Show sits on Paramount+ and Colbert on Paramount+ too, but the free clips usually give you the whole Gates segment.

AlphaGo, the documentary about DeepMind's Go-playing AI, is available free on YouTube from DeepMind itself. It's not about Gates, but if the AI news is what pulled you in, it's the best free primer on why these systems unsettle smart people, and it's a genuinely great film.

None of this requires an account beyond a free one. Start here and you may find you don't need Netflix at all this month.

5. The Microsoft movie is a rental, not a subscription trigger

People always ask about Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999), the TNT movie with Anthony Michael Hall as Gates and Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs. It's cheesy in the best way and Hall's Gates is a genuinely funny performance.

Its streaming home moves around, so I won't promise you where it sits this month. Check it on the free ad-supported apps first: Tubi, Pluto TV and The Roku Channel rotate older TV movies through constantly, and it costs nothing to look. If it's not there, it's typically a few dollars to rent on Prime Video, Apple TV or Fandango at Home. Please don't sign up for a new subscription service to watch a 1999 cable movie. Rent it, watch it, done.

Same logic applies to a fun bit of trivia: Gates played himself in an episode of The Big Bang Theory (season 11, "The Gates Excitation"). The full series streams on HBO Max in the US. If you already have Max, great. If not, it's a ten-minute cameo and not a reason to add a bill.

6. Set the cancel reminder before you watch anything

I do this with every subscription and I'd do it with Netflix too. Sign up, put a calendar alert two days before the renewal date, and decide then whether the service earned another month. Netflix lets you cancel in about four taps from the account page and you keep access until the end of the billing period, so there's no penalty for deciding early.

If you only came for the Gates AI episode, one month on the ad tier and out is a perfectly respectable plan.

What's time-sensitive right now

The news this week is Gates calling for international AI regulation and warning about worst-case risks. Expect a wave of new interview clips on official network channels over the next couple of weeks, all free. The Netflix episode was filmed before this round of comments, so it won't reference them directly, but the concerns are the same ones he's been raising for two years. Nothing about the where-to-watch picture has changed: the two series are Netflix-only, and there's no sign of a new Gates documentary landing anywhere else this fall. If that changes, check the official Netflix or Gates Notes announcements rather than a random headline.

The bottom line

If you already have Netflix, you're set: watch episode 1 of What's Next? tonight and Inside Bill's Brain when you want the backstory. If you don't have Netflix, spend an evening on his YouTube channel and the free AlphaGo doc first. You might find that scratches the itch completely. If it doesn't, one month of the ad tier is the right move, with a cancel reminder set before you press play. The Microsoft movie is a rental at most.

That's about as cheap as I know how to make it. Watch smart, and keep the money for something you'll actually use.

Theo

— Theo Nguyen