Bill Gates is calling for stronger government oversight of artificial intelligence, warning that the technology could become powerful enough to contribute to catastrophic events.
In an upcoming interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” the Microsoft cofounder said AI is “powerful enough to drive events that cause a billion deaths.”
Gates said his biggest concern is advanced AI falling into the hands of bad actors. He argued that governments, law enforcement and technology companies need to work together to establish safeguards and monitoring systems.
His comments come amid a wider debate in Silicon Valley over how AI safety should be enforced. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has also advocated regulation as a way to control the pace of increasingly powerful AI development.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has emphasized the need for stronger safeguards as well, although he has generally focused on AI companies taking responsibility for identifying serious risks and stopping development when necessary.
Gates, once one of AI’s most prominent optimists, has become increasingly cautious about the speed of its development. In an August essay, he argued that society does not yet have an adequate plan for safely managing the enormous social, political and economic changes AI could bring.
He added that he would likely support slowing global AI development if a credible and workable plan existed.