Bill Gates Says Trump Is Wrong to Hold Out Against AI Safeguards

(Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates said government safeguards against potentially catastrophic artificial intelligence risks won't hamper the US in its competition with China, contrasting with President Donald Trump's largely hands-off approach.

"Certainly, all countries should want the safeguards in place," Gates said in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press. "So anyone that says, 'Well, you know, China won't put these safeguards in place' — I totally disagree with that."

Gates is among the tech leaders weighing in as the rapidly advancing technology stokes debate about AI safety, including warnings by some that it will put humanity at risk. In an interview excerpt released last week, Gates told NBC that AI is a powerful enough tool to "cause a billion deaths."

Faced with low approval ratings as the Republicans fight to retain control of Congress in elections in November, Trump has portrayed warnings of existential AI risks as a hoax that threatens US innovation and plays into China's hands.

"It's not a hoax at all," Gates said, when asked about Trump's remarks.

He said he expects China to join in supporting AI safety because it doesn't want to be a target of attacks. Trump, he argued, might shift his stance "after he hears from me and other people — including that this does not handicap us in whatever he thinks the nation-state race is."

Gates previously argued in an essay in August that bad actors could use increasingly powerful AI tools for cyberattacks, fraud, disinformation and other forms of large-scale harm against hospitals, financial institutions, power grids and government systems.

A kill switch — the idea of ensuring that humans retain the ability to stop or restrict a powerful AI model if it begins behaving dangerously — is "not enough" and can't replace oversight at earlier stages, Gates told NBC.

"We do need to monitor any sophisticated model and record exactly what's being done," he said. "The United States ought to make sure this is done. China will want to do this."