Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Gates said AI is already powerful enough to help drive events that could result in as many as one billion deaths, although he stopped short of predicting human extinction.

Gates said the greater danger comes from combining increasingly capable AI tools with people seeking to cause harm, describing that combination as potentially more powerful than any previous weapon. He argued that voluntary safety commitments by technology companies are not enough and that governments should require safeguards, monitoring and accountability.

His comments come amid an intensifying debate over how the United States should balance AI safety with the strategic race to remain ahead of China and other competitors.

Gates Says Self-Regulation Is Not Enough

Gates argued that lawmakers, regulators and law-enforcement authorities need to play a direct role in establishing rules for advanced AI.

He warned against treating artificial intelligence primarily as a national competition in which governments simply accelerate development because they fear falling behind rivals.

According to Gates, the global challenge is more complicated than Cold War nuclear arms control because AI technology is being developed commercially, spreads rapidly across borders and can be deployed in many different ways.

He said requiring advanced AI systems to include monitoring and safety mechanisms should not be optional, calling an unrestricted “full-speed ahead” approach irresponsible.

Concerns Extend Beyond Extinction Scenarios

The debate over AI safety is not limited to hypothetical human extinction.

Researchers and policymakers have raised concerns about AI being used to assist cyberattacks, biological weapons development, disinformation, large-scale fraud and other forms of automated harm.

Gates has also warned that governments are falling behind the pace of technological change, citing risks including cybersecurity threats, job displacement and potentially harmful uses of increasingly capable AI systems.

At the same time, Gates remains a major supporter of beneficial AI applications, especially in healthcare, education and agriculture.

Trump Administration Favors Faster AI Development

President Donald Trump’s administration has taken a different approach to the regulatory debate, emphasizing American technological leadership and warning against rules that could slow innovation.

The administration has pushed for faster AI development while also acknowledging that advanced AI creates national-security risks requiring government attention.

Trump has rejected broad restrictions that he believes could weaken the United States in its competition with China, though he has also said federal authorities could act if AI companies create serious problems.

That tension — between moving quickly and controlling potentially catastrophic risks — has become one of Washington’s central technology-policy debates.

Public Concern About AI Safety Is Growing

Recent polling suggests many Americans share concerns about the speed of AI development.

A Reuters/Ipsos survey found that 73% of U.S. adults were concerned that AI companies were not doing enough to prevent potentially catastrophic consequences.

The same poll found that 73% prioritized safe and responsible AI development over international competitiveness, while 23% placed greater emphasis on winning the global technology race.

Experts Remain Divided Over the Scale of the Threat

Not everyone agrees with the most alarming assessments.

Some technology leaders and researchers argue that advanced AI could create severe or even catastrophic dangers if systems become more capable and are misused. Others say highly speculative extinction scenarios can distract from more immediate risks such as fraud, cybersecurity attacks, employment disruption, discrimination and misinformation.

Economists and policy specialists have also argued that carefully designed liability rules could make AI companies financially responsible for harms created by their systems without necessarily preventing innovation.

Meanwhile, geopolitical competition continues to complicate the debate. The United States and China are investing heavily in advanced AI infrastructure and models, making international agreements restricting development considerably more difficult than traditional arms-control arrangements.

Gates’ warning adds another prominent voice to a growing international debate over how far governments should go in regulating an extraordinarily powerful technology without sacrificing the economic, scientific and strategic benefits AI could also provide.