Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has issued one of his starkest warnings yet about the potential dangers of artificial intelligence, saying the technology is powerful enough to drive events that could result in a billion deaths.
In an interview with NBC's Meet the Press, excerpts of which were released ahead of the full broadcast, Gates said the combination of advanced AI systems and people with malicious intent could represent an unprecedented threat. He argued that technology companies should not be left to regulate themselves and called for governments and law enforcement agencies to establish mandatory safeguards and monitoring.
Gates points to malicious use of advanced AI
Gates' warning centres on what could happen if increasingly capable AI tools fall into the hands of people seeking to cause large-scale harm.
He said AI could be used to facilitate attacks on critical infrastructure and other systems, creating risks that extend beyond conventional cybercrime. His broader concerns include the possibility of AI lowering the barriers to cyberattacks and the creation of dangerous biological agents.
In an August essay, Gates warned that increasingly capable AI could make it easier for bad actors to obtain information about weapons, including biological weapons, and act on it. He also highlighted potential attacks on hospitals, financial institutions, power grids and government systems.
The latest warning follows Gates' increasingly cautious stance on AI. In recent months, he has said that governments are not moving quickly enough to prepare for the technology's potential effects on jobs, security and society. Reuters reported earlier this month that Gates had also warned about cyber threats and other risks associated with rapidly advancing AI.
Why Gates says self-regulation is not enough
Gates has argued that AI companies cannot be relied upon to determine and enforce all the safeguards needed to manage the technology's risks.
In the NBC interview, he said government officials and law enforcement needed to become part of the discussion about safeguards and monitoring, and that such measures should be mandatory rather than voluntary.
His comments come amid a wider debate over whether governments should impose stricter requirements on companies developing frontier AI models.
Supporters of stronger oversight argue that mandatory safety assessments, monitoring and external scrutiny are needed as AI systems become more capable. The proposed approach includes stronger legal obligations for developers and greater oversight of the computing infrastructure used to train and operate advanced models.
At the same time, critics of extensive regulation argue that overly restrictive rules could slow innovation and weaken the technology sector's ability to compete internationally.
Silicon Valley divided over how fast AI should advance
Gates' comments come as prominent figures in the AI industry debate how quickly the technology should be developed and how much government intervention is appropriate.
Executives at companies including Anthropic and OpenAI have publicly discussed the risks associated with increasingly capable AI systems. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei has called for a slower pace of frontier AI development, while OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and others have also spoken about the need to address potential risks.
The debate has also attracted scepticism from technology executives who argue that existing laws and liability frameworks can address many of the risks without creating extensive new regulation. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, for example, has rejected predictions of near-term human extinction from AI and argued that existing laws can be used to address risks.
The disagreement reflects a broader tension between concerns over safety and calls to maintain the rapid development of AI for economic and technological reasons.
Gates' concerns extend beyond catastrophic scenarios
The billion-death warning is part of a wider set of concerns Gates has raised about artificial intelligence.
In his recent writing, he has warned about widespread job losses, cyberattacks, the development of dangerous pathogens and the effect of AI on children and human relationships. He has also said that AI could ultimately deliver enormous benefits in areas such as healthcare, education and agriculture if its development is managed properly.
Gates' position therefore combines warnings about extreme risks with an argument that AI could substantially improve living standards. The Gates Foundation has separately committed $1 billion towards AI-related initiatives in areas including global health, education and agriculture, reflecting his continued emphasis on the technology's potential benefits alongside its risks.
The latest comments add urgency to the debate over how governments should respond as AI systems become more capable. For Gates, the central issue is not simply whether AI will eventually become dangerous, but whether safeguards can be established before malicious actors are able to exploit its capabilities at unprecedented scale.