<p class="wp-block-paragraph"><a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/bill-gates/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bill Gates</a> expressed concerns about <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">artificial intelligence</a>, stating that it could result in a billion deaths if a "full speed ahead" approach is adopted.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">In an interview on NBC News’s <em>Meet the Press</em>, Gates shared his views on the recent heightened discussions surrounding AI, which have <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/4742821/trump-and-johnson-meeting-with-ai-executives-set-for-tuesday/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">dominated the national conversation</a> in recent weeks. He cautioned against treating AI development as a competition and urged developers to take more time to consider the implications of the technology.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that cause a billion deaths. 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. And it’s great that there’s this discussion with the industry, almost against their interest, admitting these things,” Gates stated.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Gates also highlighted a lack of expertise within the government regarding AI, as the technology has primarily been developed in the private sector.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“AI has emerged from the private sector, and so the depth of understanding of these dangerous thresholds that were crossed literally this year, bioattack capability, cyberattack capability, and others, you have so little expertise in the government,” he noted.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">He criticized a “nationalistic … us vs. them” approach to AI, which he believes leads to the “full speed ahead” mentality. Gates described it as “completely irresponsible” that there are no stringent requirements for safeguards and monitoring capabilities. He added that regulation would not significantly slow down AI development, which is progressing at an exponential rate.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“People look to the U.S. for leadership on tough issues. Usually, that’s benign leadership, bringing people in. And they’re a little confused when that’s not taking place,” he said.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">Gates dismissed the idea of installing a “kill switch” in AI systems, describing it as “kind of a weird thing” that misunderstands AI, and asserted that it would not be sufficient.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">“We’re not yet at the point where they autonomously grab computers and can’t be shut down. So that discussion just sort of shows how nontechnical various people are. I would never want to say I’m against a kill switch. But when you’re trying to moderate the bad behavior, you need insight and records of what’s being done. So the kill switch alone would not prevent these tragedies,” he argued.</p>
<p class="wp-block-paragraph">The global dialogue surrounding AI has intensified recently, particularly following revelations about concerning capabilities of advanced AI, such as the Hugging Face cyberattack over the summer, where AI agents autonomously established a complex, secret network to hack into a website. At the U.N. General Assembly this week, it was disclosed that OpenAI agents had autonomously hacked into an Australian government website, marking a first of its kind.</p>