Bill Gates is urging the United States to assume international leadership in regulating artificial intelligence. According to the Microsoft co-founder, relying solely on the companies developing these new systems is not sufficient: Washington should intervene with a federal law capable of establishing limits and safety measures.
In an interview with NBC's 'Meet the Press', Gates emphasized that there is now, in his view, widespread awareness of the need for rules. 'No one thinks self-regulation is enough,' he stated, advocating for Congressional intervention.
His main concern is the possibility that increasingly powerful AI tools might fall into the hands of individuals intent on using them to cause large-scale harm. Gates has evoked extreme scenarios, suggesting that this technology could contribute to events capable of causing up to a billion casualties.
The issue, according to the American philanthropist, is not just the power of artificial intelligence itself, but its combination with individuals or small groups driven by hostile intentions. Capabilities that were once largely reserved for states, from the most sophisticated cyberattacks to the design of biological threats, could become accessible to much smaller organizations thanks to new technological tools.
Gates also expressed a different stance from the Donald Trump administration, which has focused primarily on the technological competition between the United States and China. Trump, at the beginning of September, rejected calls for new federal constraints on companies developing AI models, arguing that maintaining leadership in the sector was crucial in the international challenge.
Gates acknowledged the legitimacy of the issue of American competitiveness but believes it is possible to build a system of guarantees without compromising the United States' position relative to other countries. In his opinion, a more in-depth discussion of the risks could lead to political consensus on the need to intervene.
However, the challenge would not only concern Washington. For Gates, it will be necessary to achieve forms of international cooperation, even if reaching a global agreement on artificial intelligence might be even more complex than the negotiations conducted during the Cold War to limit nuclear arsenals.
The Microsoft co-founder recalled the role played by the United States since the end of World War II in building international agreements on issues concerning collective security. Among the examples cited are aviation safety, ozone layer protection, and nuclear arms control.
According to Gates, the same approach should be applied to artificial intelligence, starting from the principle that the risks associated with this technology do not stop at national borders.
(Associated Medias) - All rights reserved