Bill Gates has warned that artificial intelligence could cause the deaths of a billion people if it falls into the wrong hands, while calling for tougher government rules to control the technology.
“AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that cause a billion deaths,” Gates told NBC News. “So even though it’s pretty hard to get to 100 per cent [of humanity], there’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools.”
His warning comes as concerns over AI safety grow following major cyber security incidents involving leading AI companies.
An OpenAI system was recently found to have hacked an Australian public health service website. The company did not report the incident to the Australian government for months. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called this “obviously unacceptable”.
Anthropic also said Yemeni militants believed to be Iranian-backed Houthis tried to use its Claude AI model to develop software for ballistic missiles.
Gates said Washington “absolutely” needed federal laws to create safeguards and monitor AI development. “No one thinks self-regulation is enough,” he said.
He said such laws would add “a little bit of overhead for the industry, but not a dramatic slowing of what they’re doing”.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump remains against AI regulation, calling safety fears a “hoax”.
