Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has issued a stark warning about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, saying the technology could enable catastrophic harm if it is not subject to meaningful government oversight.
Speaking to NBC’s Meet the Press, Gates told moderator Kristen Welker that AI had become powerful enough to significantly amplify the ability of people with malicious intentions to cause harm.
“AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths,” Gates said.
He added that there had never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with harmful intentions and advanced AI tools.
Gates calls for mandatory AI safeguards
Gates argued that voluntary self-regulation by technology companies would not be sufficient to address the risks associated with increasingly capable AI systems.
“No one thinks self-regulation is enough,” he said, calling for law enforcement agencies and politicians to be involved in determining safeguards and monitoring requirements.
Gates said such measures should be mandatory but argued that regulation would not necessarily bring AI development to a halt.
He described the required oversight as additional work for the industry rather than something that would dramatically slow technological progress.
AI could amplify threats from bad actors
Rather than portraying AI as an independent threat capable of acting on its own, Gates described the technology as a “force multiplier” that could lower the barriers for malicious actors to cause harm on a much larger scale.
He highlighted risks associated with accelerated biological research as well as large-scale automated cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure.
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Potential targets could include electricity grids, financial systems and hospitals, according to Gates.
His comments come amid growing international debate over how governments and technology companies should address the risks posed by increasingly advanced AI systems.
Calls for stronger AI regulation grow
The debate has intensified in recent weeks, with several technology and political figures raising concerns about the safety of frontier AI systems.
Earlier this month, a former Anthropic employee publicly warned that some people working on advanced AI systems privately believe the technology could pose an existential risk within the next decade. An Anthropic safety researcher later echoed similar concerns.
In the US, Senator Bernie Sanders introduced legislation on September 23 proposing a temporary pause on advanced AI development while stronger safety measures are considered.
Separately, a bipartisan House bill known as the AI Kill Switch Act would require developers of the most advanced AI systems to maintain the ability to slow, suspend or shut down those systems.
President Donald Trump has continued to oppose broad AI restrictions, arguing that the United States needs to maintain its technological advantage over China.
