New Delhi, June 14 -- Bill Gates has pointed out the growing concern over Donald Trump's administration picking up more and more equity stakes in private American companies, saying that the habit would end up rewarding ownership over engineering.

Speaking to CNBC, the Microsoft cofounder said that the trouble starts when the government starts favouring companies it partly owns over rivals with better technology.

"Government operates best when it's kind of predictable," Gates told CNBC, as he asserted that companies need to know what tariffs will look like for the next 20 years before they starts pouring billions into a plant.

"Is Washington helping a nascent technology for the good of the country and treating all companies equally, or ...