Bill Gates says tech executives are privately "very worried" about AI disruption but publicly downplay the risks to protect fundraising and planned IPOs (Karen Weise/New York Times)

Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft, has expressed concerns about the risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI). According to the New York Times, Gates said that tech executives are privately "very worried" about AI disruption but publicly downplay the risks to protect fundraising and planned IPOs.

Gates is planning to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year to propose global efforts to mitigate the growing risks posed by AI. He believes China might agree to restricting potentially dangerous AI model releases if the US took initiative on that first. Gates also wants to propose that countries monitor AI's ability to create molecules and carry out biological attacks, which he believes would not hinder the tech industry's development. According to Gates, a meeting with Xi is tentatively scheduled for November.

Gates has described AI as an "evolutionary milestone that needs incredible policy management by society as a whole." He believes that few leaders globally are rising to the occasion to address the potential harms from AI. While Gates is optimistic about AI's potential to help cure diseases and address inequality, he also warns that it could be "the worst source of injustice" if not managed properly, as reported by Fortune.

Brief written by urgent.news from Techmeme, Economic Times Tech, Free Malaysia Today, Investing.com, Fortune — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.