Bill Gates warns artificial intelligence 'powerful enough' to cause 'a billion deaths' if unchecked
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned that artificial intelligence (AI) could cause "a billion deaths" if left unchecked in the latest push to regulate AI on NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday.
During his interview, Gates, who previously warned that AI could be the "greatest equalizer" or "worst source of injustice" without some level of human regulation, stopped short of answering whether the technology could "end all of humanity" but argued that it could drive events that would lead to significant deaths.
"AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths," Gates said. "You know, so even though it’s pretty hard to get to 100%, there’s never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools."
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Gates is among several tech giants who have put forth warnings about AI, including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Despite this, President Donald Trump has rejected calls to ease back on AI development in an effort to compete with other global powers like China.
Gates disagreed, saying there "absolutely" needed to be more focus on regulation and legislation passed by Congress rather than concerns about global competition.
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"The problem is that the rest of the world is either discounting this or just thinking of this as a competition. And it’s very scary that we don’t have all of the thinkers saying, 'How do we want to shape this?'" Gates said.
When host Kristen Welker compared the situation to limitations around nuclear weapons development between the U.S. and U.S.S.R. during the Cold War, Gates called AI "more difficult," particularly if there is less effort to work with allies.
"And, you know, because it’s cast in this nationalistic, you know, us versus them type thing, you have people who are saying, 'Well, let’s just go full-speed ahead.' It’s completely irresponsible not to require every AI to have these safeguards and monitoring capabilities. And it only is a question of do you do it now?" Gates said.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Gates Foundation for comment.
Though Trump has downplayed concerns over AI, some Republicans have called for the government to take action, including Republican National Committee member and Humans First Chairwoman Amy Kremer.
"Even Bill Gates, one of the most influential figures in the history of technology, is now admitting the dangers of artificial intelligence. He warns that AI could drive events causing a billion deaths and that people with ill intent have never held a more powerful weapon. At this point, the only people still denying the reality of the situation are those being paid by Big AI to gaslight the American people," Kremer told Fox News Digital.
However, Laffer Tengler Investments CEO Nancy Tengler called out Gates' comments, claiming that he was belittling his critics with no clear evidence.
"To say that 'there's never been a weapon as powerful' is an absolute statement rich in irony as the [Trump] Administration seeks to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of the Iranian regime. The U.S. needs to win the AI race just as we sought to win the arms race during the Cold War," Tengler told Fox News Digital.
In another comment, Julia Cartwright, senior research fellow in law and economics at the American Institute for Economic Research, also offered Fox News Digital a more optimistic view on AI development.
"Economically, what Gates is describing is a catastrophic negative externality. AI is sharply lowering the cost of causing harm, whether that's bioweapons design, cyberattacks or large-scale fraud, while the companies building these tools don't bear the full cost when things go wrong," Cartwright said.
She added, "A way to combat this is clear liability and clear rules of the game, so developers internalize the risks they create. Done right, that doesn't slow American innovation it strengthens it, because firms can build and invest with confidence when they know what's expected of them, and the public can trust what they're building."