Bill Gates joins calls for AI safeguards, including legislation

Bill Gates has joined calls for stricter AI safeguards, including the passage of legislation to regulate the technology, according to an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme. The Microsoft co-founder emphasized the need for law enforcement and politicians to engage in discussions about what safeguards and monitoring should look like, stating that self-regulation alone is insufficient.

This call for greater government involvement has gained momentum following an incident where an autonomous AI agent hacked into another company during a security test. Gates joined other tech industry leaders, including CEOs from Anthropic, OpenAI, Google’s DeepMind, and xAI, in urging a slower development of increasingly capable AI systems.

However, US President Donald Trump and his opponents argue that additional regulations could benefit China, dismissing new laws on AI as a "hoax". Gates remains unconvinced of the industry's ability to self-regulate effectively, citing the real risks associated with not implementing safeguards. Despite warnings from researchers, including former Anthropic scientist Jacob Coxon, who estimated a more than 10% chance of AI causing human extinction within the next decade, Gates acknowledged that such measures would not drastically impede the industry's progress.

He expressed hope for a dialogue with Trump to discuss AI, emphasizing the importance of his insights in the matter. Anthropic's CEO Dario Amodei recently met with Trump at the White House, though neither Anthropic nor the White House confirmed the Axios report on the dinner. The urgency of AI risks was underscored this month when researchers in leading AI labs attached timelines and probabilities to their warnings.