As President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at a White House summit that put artificial intelligence, technology competition and semiconductor policy at the center of discussions between the world's two largest economies, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates issued a stark warning about the potential dangers of AI. In an interview set to air Sunday on NBC's Meet the Press, Gates said artificial intelligence is already powerful enough to contribute to catastrophic outcomes on a scale previously associated only with the deadliest weapons in history. "AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that, you know, cause a billion deaths," Gates told NBC's Kristen Welker.
"There's never been a weapon as powerful as the combination of people with ill intent using the latest AI tools." His comments landed just days after AI dominated conversations surrounding the Trump-Xi summit, where both leaders publicly acknowledged the technology's growing strategic importance even as debate continues over how aggressively it should be regulated. Newsweek reached out on Friday to the White House, OpenAI and Microsoft. Microsoft declined to comment.
AI was one of the key topics discussed during the Trump-Xi summit alongside trade, rare earth minerals and semiconductors. Trump has repeatedly resisted calls for broad AI guardrails, arguing the United States must remain competitive against China. Earlier this month, when asked about proposals to slow AI development, he dismissed warnings from some industry leaders, saying that "a lot of negative forces" were "bringing things up that won't happen." He added: "We're leading China in AI.
And frankly, I want to keep it that way because whoever wins AI, wins." Xi, meanwhile, has publicly acknowledged the technology's risks while calling for responsible development and oversight. The debate comes as policymakers increasingly grapple with how to balance innovation against concerns about cybersecurity, disinformation, autonomous weapons and potential loss of human control over advanced systems. Gates has increasingly paired his optimism about AI's potential with warnings about its risks and the need for stronger oversight.
Gates also used the interview to argue that AI companies should not be left to police themselves. When Welker asked whether self-regulation was sufficient, Gates offered a blunt response. "No one thinks self-regulation is enough," he said.
Asked whether Washington should pass legislation, Gates replied: "Absolutely." "You need law enforcement and the politicians to get into the discussion about what safeguards and monitoring look like," he said, adding that such measures would create only limited burdens for the industry. The remarks are consistent with Gates' long-standing calls for greater government oversight of advanced AI systems as the technology develops at a rapid pace. Gates is far from alone in raising concerns about artificial intelligence.
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