Artificial intelligence is barreling into society faster than governments can respond, Bill Gates warned, arguing that leaders around the world are unprepared for the upheaval the technology is likely to unleash.
The Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist said he had until recently viewed AI with more optimism, but has shifted his stance as worries mount over job disruption, the risk of attacks and the potential for people to become hooked on AI companions.
“I don’t think any government is nearly as deep on this as they have to be,” he said.
Even so, Gates stressed that AI could deliver enormous benefits for the world’s poorest—if it is managed responsibly and made broadly available—and his namesake foundation said today it intends to spend at least $1bn (€886m) over the next two years to widen access to the technology.
Gates said he has raised his concerns directly with top political figures, including President Donald Trump and members of his team in the United States, and said he plans to meet China’s President Xi Jinping later this year.
“Governments are way behind on this one,” he added.
Despite his sharper warnings, Gates and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation continue to argue that AI can be a tool to close the gap between rich and poor—rather than a force that deepens inequality.
The foundation said its $1bn plan, folded into previously announced intentions to spend $9bn (€7.8bn) each year, will support partners working across education, healthcare and agriculture.
It will also focus on strengthening the underlying data that AI systems depend on, including efforts to ensure large language models function in every language people speak.
“For health it’s hard to overstate what the potential is,” Gates said, describing uses ranging from aiding frontline health care workers to accelerating the discovery of new drugs and vaccines.
Still, he argued that international coordination is essential to prevent the technology from creating new crises, comparing AI’s arrival to the premise of a disaster film.
“There’s all sorts of movies where some aliens are coming, and magically the U.S. and China and everybody comes together to solve the problem,” he said.
“AI is kind of like this alien intelligence. It’s here, and we better do like it shows in those movies,” he added.
Reputational hit?
In June, Gates testified before the US Congress about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Gates, who has not been accused of any crimes, has repeatedly said he regrets his association with Epstein, saying he had hoped the financier would donate to global health causes.
Instead, Epstein sought to blackmail Gates over his extramarital affairs.
Gates said that while the matter prompted an external review at his foundation—which found no payments to Epstein and no involvement in criminal activities—the episode has not, in his view, delivered a major reputational blow to him or the organisation.
“In terms of having access to government leaders, or you know, journalists being willing to interview me, I don’t see any diminishment,” he said, adding that interest in drawing on the foundation’s expertise to reduce child deaths and end malaria had not fallen “even one iota”.
