Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Bill Gates has warned that increasingly powerful artificial intelligence systems could potentially contribute to the deaths of up to one billion people if they are misused by malicious actors.
Gates made the remarks during an interview with NBC’s *Meet the Press*, where he called for governments and law enforcement agencies to play a greater role in regulating the development and use of advanced AI.
According to Gates, AI developers should be required to put safeguards and monitoring systems in place rather than relying solely on voluntary industry standards.
“You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion about what safeguards and monitoring look like,” Gates said. “And that has to be a required thing.”
He acknowledged that stronger regulation would add some costs for AI companies but argued that it would not necessarily stop the industry from continuing to develop the technology.
“It will be a little bit of overhead for the industry — but not a dramatic slowing of what they’re doing,” he said.
Gates also warned about the consequences of advanced AI falling into the hands of people with malicious intentions.
“There’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools,” he said.
He added that AI could be “powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths.”
Gates questions AI kill-switch solution
During the interview, Gates was also asked whether a “kill switch” could be used to shut down AI systems if they became too powerful.
He said a shutdown mechanism alone would not address the wider risks associated with increasingly capable AI.
“It’s not enough to have a kill switch,” Gates said, while noting that current AI systems have not reached a point where they can independently take control of computers and prevent themselves from being switched off.
Gates’ latest warning follows an essay he published last month in which he discussed the potential dangers posed by increasingly capable AI systems.
Although Gates has generally expressed optimism about the potential of technology to improve lives, he has also called for stronger safeguards as AI development progresses.
Other prominent technology figures, including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, have similarly raised concerns about the risks associated with advanced AI and called for greater oversight of the technology.
