Bill Gates: Artificial Intelligence Could Kill a Billion People

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has told American broadcaster NBC that artificial intelligence (AI) is powerful enough to trigger events that could kill a billion people. According to him, to prevent this, US authorities urgently need to pass legislation regulating the technology.

The 70-year-old Gates was asked about recent warnings that AI could destroy humanity. "Artificial intelligence is, without a doubt, so powerful that it could cause events that would claim the lives of a billion people," he replied. According to the entrepreneur, "there has never before been a weapon as powerful as people with malicious intent wielding the latest AI tools." At the same time, Gates noted that wiping out one hundred percent of the planet's population would be quite difficult.

The Microsoft founder stressed that, given the potential risks, Washington needs to pass appropriate legislation as soon as possible. In his view, authorities and policymakers should agree on mandatory safety measures and oversight for AI. "Nobody believes that self-regulation alone will be enough," Gates said.

Recently, leading companies in the industry — Anthropic and OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT — have also called for slowing down AI development. This is partly linked to specific cases of hacking attacks carried out using AI-based software.

Around Prague, based on reporting by seznamzpravy.cz