Reasons for Bill Gates' trending status during the Texas floods. Claims of 'cloud seeding' and 'weather modification' emerge.

Bill Gates unexpectedly began trending on social media after devastating floods struck Texas, leading to the disappearance of several children from Camp Mystic.

Bill Gates unexpectedly began trending on social media after devastating floods struck Texas, leading to the disappearance of several children from Camp Mystic near the Guadalupe River. The co-founder of Microsoft has become the focus of a conspiracy theory that connects his previous investments in geoengineering initiatives, including cloud seeding and solar radiation modification, to the floods that resulted in the deaths of more than 70 individuals.

Bill Gates leaves the St. Regis Hotel, on the second day of the wedding festivities of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos(REUTERS)

Kandiss Taylor, a candidate for Georgia's House seat, proposed that the floods in Texas are due to cloud seeding. She tweeted: “Fake weather. Fake hurricanes. Fake flooding. Fake. Fake. Fake.” Notably, her post did not reference Bill Gates.

Read More: Camp Mystic victims: Sarah Marsh's family describes the 8-year-old as a ‘beautiful spunky ray of light’

On X, posts like that of @TimRyanDOPEMAN incorrectly asserted that Gates is responsible for the Texas floods, claiming, “Of course, the Texas floods were from cloud seeding and weather modification… m****s like Bill Gates think they know what the hell they’re doing.”

Nevertheless, there is no supporting evidence for these assertions. The bot Grok, developed by Elon Musk's xAi, fact-checked these tweets.

"The text in the image promotes a baseless conspiracy theory: no evidence shows weather is 'weaponized' or that Bill Gates is blocking the sun to create events like the Texas floods. While Gates does fund geoengineering research, allegations of malicious intent are unfounded," it stated.

Since 2006, Bill Gates has funded various geoengineering initiatives. In 2010, he allocated $300,000 to Silver Lining, a San Francisco organization focused on creating machines that spray seawater into clouds to reflect sunlight. The Microsoft founder has also supported Harvard's Solar Geoengineering Research Program, which includes the SCoPEx project aimed at testing calcium 

Read More: Camp Mystic flooding: All about the church camp in Texas where at least 25 girls went missing

Cloud seeding and weather modification claims

What Is Cloud Seeding?

Cloud seeding is a weather modification technique that disperses substances like silver iodide into clouds to enhance precipitation (rain or snow) by encouraging water droplet formation. In Texas, it has been used since the 1940s to combat drought, covering 31 million acres in regions like the Panhandle and South Texas.