Bill Gates ‘blames’ US government for blocking attempts to protect against AI risks

Bill Gates has accused the US government of blocking attempts to protect against AI risks, warning that the technology can be used to cause a pandemic “significantly worse than Covid”. Speaking at the FT’s Future of AI Summit on November 4, Gates stated that AI models’ “stunning” capabilities meant “the potential for good, the potential for harm can’t be overstated”. The Microsoft co-founder said that despite fears, the Trump administration is hindering international efforts to regulate and monitor AI and its impacts. “There’s not much value in acting unless the US is part of that. So we’re kind of stymied . . . The only question is how many bad events need to take place before they change their posture,” Bill Gates said. During the summit, Bill Gates requested the administration to consider a benchmark for AI models’ internal safeguards and monitoring. He further urged to establish “massive” monitoring efforts across “air, sewage, blood” to catch potential AI-enabled infections early.

Bill Gates’ warning on AI

In early September, Bill Gates warned that no government in the world is prepared for the sweeping changes artificial intelligence will bring. In an interview with Reuters, Gates said, “I don’t think any government is nearly as deep on this as they have to be.” Bill Gates cautioned that AI poses risks to jobs, cybersecurity, and even addiction to AI companions, urging leaders to act before it is too late. Gates likened the arrival of AI to a disaster film scenario and feels that its appears to be like a disaster movie that no one has prepared for. “There’s all sorts of movies where some aliens are coming, and magically the US and China and everybody comes together to solve the problem. AI is kind of like this alien intelligence. It’s here, and we better do like it shows in those movies,” said Gates. During the recent FT Summit, Bill Gates said that the “scale of the damage” of a biosecurity incident involving AI could be “significantly worse than Covid”. He said that bad actors using AI tools to create bioweapons or attack cyber vulnerabilities across society poses the greatest immediate risk.

Bill Gates says companies’ AI self-regulation may not help

Gates said that AI company’s self-regulation would not work. “As soon as we add multiple companies, then the only way to solve this moves up to the government,” he said. Gates also urged the US administration to consider a benchmark for models’ internal safeguards and monitoring.