Bill Gates urged US lawmakers and law enforcers to require AI safeguards and monitoring, warning that misuse could drive events causing a billion deaths. In an NBC interview airing Sunday, he said rules would add costs but not dramatically slow development.
In late August, Gates published a nearly 6,000-word essay warning that AI could pose lethal risks on a large scale. The article says Sam Altman and Elon Musk have also called for slowing AI development; some experts theorize the technology could enable mass destruction through bioweapons or nuclear war.
A Guardian essay said Microsoft employees and activists are campaigning for the company to cut ties with the Israeli military, which it said has used AI tools to kill in Gaza and, alongside US forces, in Iran. The essay's authors also said the US Department of Homeland Security uses Microsoft's Azure to monitor, arrest and deport immigrants en masse.
