Microsoft co-founder says voluntary safeguards cannot address every risk posed by increasingly powerful AI systems.
By Haitian Tribune Staff
WASHINGTON — Bill Gates is urging Congress to establish rules for artificial intelligence, arguing that companies developing the technology cannot be solely responsible for overseeing its risks.
In an interview with NBC News’ Meet the Press, the Microsoft co-founder said lawmakers and law enforcement officials should help determine what safeguards AI developers must use and how those safeguards should be monitored. He said mandatory oversight would add some work for the industry but need not sharply slow its progress.
Gates warned that advanced AI could be used by malicious actors to cause harm on a massive scale. His reference to the possibility of a billion deaths was a warning about a potential future danger, not a prediction that such an event will occur.
His comments come as developers and policymakers debate how to manage increasingly capable AI systems. OpenAI has recently called for U.S. leadership in setting international technical standards, including ways to report serious incidents. Gates’s position goes further on the role of government: he wants safeguards backed by law rather than left entirely to voluntary company policies.
The question for Washington is how to set enforceable protections while allowing useful applications of AI to continue developing.
