Gates Warns AI's Next-Year Cyber Threat

# BREAKING NEWS: Microsoft Co-Founder Bill Gates Speaks With CNN About Future Of AI Technology ## Channel: Forbes Breaking News (verified) 5.62M subscribers 204 likes

### Description 11,842 views Posted: 2026-10-11 Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, spoke with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday about the future of AI technology.

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### Transcript [0:00] And joining me now is Microsoft co-founder and chair of the Gates Foundation, uh, Bill Gates. Uh, thanks so much for joining us. We've already [0:07] seen these AI models go rogue and hack platforms and government websites. These are just the incidents we know of. I I [0:15] can't imagine there aren't many, many more we don't know about. You know, many of these tech leaders personally. Do you think they're being fully transparent [0:24] and fully sincere with the public when it comes to their own concerns and fears with this technology and the true risks? [0:33] Well, I don't think there's any industry that's ever been as open about uh their concerns. The imbalance we have is you [0:41] have a lot of concern in the industry but then academics, policy makers, uh politicians, they have far less [0:49] awareness of how complex and how powerful these tools are. And so as that [0:57] awareness develops, the a lot of policy sophistication will come in. For example, should kids have an emotional [1:06] relationship with the AI? uh how can the AI complement the teachers in school and uh you know be more of a a thing to [1:15] drive curiosity than just a tool basically for cheating on an essay or a paper and you know if you look at [1:25] various countries China's banned you know children having relationships with the there's some that are are much further ahead and some of the the [1:34] negatives uh that uh I think the industry is is trying to get attention to. [1:41] You have called AI aliens created in a lab that could evolve almost as a species of its own and become to us what quote we are to dogs or cats unquote. [1:53] And you've said this isn't just a technological leap. It's a quote evolutionary event. That sounds scary. [2:01] That sounds ominous. [2:03] Yes. The arrival of AI is both [clears throat] fantastic [2:09] uh for things like health care and new tools uh you know really unbelievable [2:18] but it's also something that has such profound power and really changes [2:26] uh life in a pretty profound way that I always worry when people look back at previous technological advances, you [2:35] know, like I was involved in the personal computer and the internet, those were a big deal. Uh, but nothing [2:43] compared to this. You know, this changes the world more than all uh previous [2:50] technologies. And we got to get everyone on the same page about what a big deal this is. [2:57] And you've warned that AI could make it much easier for bad actors to develop deadly boweapons. You said the risk of having a bioteterrorist attack is now 50 times the risk of a natural pandemic. [3:09] How soon do you think that nightmare scenario could happen? Are we talking imminently? And are our leaders doing enough to make sure it does not happen? [3:19] Well, no, we're not doing enough. The front that we'll probably see most dramatically in the next year is cyber [3:28] attacks because there there's a known business model where you know you threaten to do something and ask [3:36] somebody to pay you for that or you you know create a disruption that changes something in the stock market or some uh [3:45] betting thing that you go and do. And so, uh, the real danger right now is not [3:51] the AI getting out of control. We need to work on that, but that's, uh, years [3:59] away in terms of the the big impact that might have. It's really bad people using [4:05] AI, particularly in AI where you can take out all the safeguards. You know, we put in safeguards to try and avoid [4:14] you doing cyber attacks. we put safeguards in to avoid you doing uh bioteterrorism, but right now you're [4:22] allowed to take all those safeguards out. So when you have bad people, no safeguards, and then the the latest [4:30] models, that's where over the next year, primarily in the Siberia, we are going to have a a a lot of negative surprises. [4:39] Sam Alman called some of the scenarios that people are envisioning about AI quote so dystopian that they sound like [4:46] the plot of bad science fiction movies unquote. He warned against people falling into quote the trap of doomerism [4:54] unquote. Now you've called AI the most dangerous thing ever that makes nuclear weapons look like nothing. Sam Alman it sounds like would suggest that you are [5:03] falling into the trap of dumerism. How would you respond? [5:09] Well, all responsible AI leaders uh including Sam Alman, including Dario Amaday, uh [5:20] they are telling the world this is very concerning the way that gets articulated in terms of potential negative [5:28] scenarios. Yes, it can get overblown when people act like all of humanity is at risk in some intimate way. That is [5:36] going too far. But say compared to cars or planes or drugs, you know, all things [5:43] that I think we're pleased that we have significant regulatory capability to try and keep people safe. This is more [5:52] dangerous than any of those. And so, uh, you know, there are, uh, some grim possibilities if we don't don't maintain [6:02] control. And I do think the industry is doing its job to raise the alarm bell. [6:07] Uh but uh this idea that if if we're judicious, we can minimize these risks. [6:14] Uh maybe that's not coming across particularly because the government sometimes, you know, goes to the extreme [6:21] of let's not have any safeguards or let's completely stop this. you know, finding that middle ground like we did [6:29] with planes and cars and medicines, uh, that we don't have a lot of sophistication right now, but I do believe that middle ground exists. [6:40] So, you talk about planes and cars and medicine, there's regulatory models uh, and and organizations for all of that. [6:48] Uh, planes, there's the FAA, medicine, there's the Food and Drug Administration. Exactly. Exactly. [6:53] We don't have anything like that right now. And what we're hearing from our leaders in Washington are these organizations should should self-p [7:01] police uh and the FBI and Justice Department, you know, making sure that crimes don't happen. That's sufficient. [7:09] I think there are a lot of people, I'm sure yourself, who think it's not sufficient. Are you concerned at all about this self-governing idea? [7:20] I think over the next year we'll move beyond self-governance. The idea that for the most dangerous [7:28] technology humans ever invented that that's the final word word that just the companies themselves [7:36] uh are the only check that society has particularly when this idea of what [7:42] safeguards do you need? Uh you know it's clear we're not doing enough. we see through these incidents. So I do think [7:50] over the next year uh the idea that government has to get more sophisticated [7:57] and we will have uh safety groups like we do for those other domains. I think that'll become quite obvious to people. [8:06] I'll certainly be a strong voice for that. [8:09] One of the other concerns obviously is what this uh AI means in terms of job losses and you've said that the the breadth of job losses from AI across [8:18] virtually all sectors is going to be unprecedented. You're calling for certain occupations in in education and health care for for instance to be [8:26] reserved for humans. Do you think that there's any appetite among our political leaders, among our [8:33] business leaders to do that if there is money to be saved or made? [8:40] Yeah. I think this idea that you have to reserve things for humans, uh, you know, because I'm looking at how [8:48] fast these models are improving and what the incentive is to use the AI in place of human labor. You know, I'm looking [8:57] out and saying in the years ahead, we really do need to make a decision as a society. [9:04] How do we tax AI usage or robot usage and where do we want to make sure the human jobs are preserved? Until people [9:13] get their mind around how powerful this is and therefore what it's going to be doing to these jobs. The idea that you [9:20] need to reserve things for humans may sound bizarre, but in fact, you know, we will get there and then we will decide [9:28] politically uh are there things that we think only humans, you know, should be allowed to do. [9:36] Before you go, sir, just quickly um since you've been making your concerns known, especially have have you heard from President Trump or any of the leaders in Washington? [9:48] Well, I've certainly heard from a a number of politicians. Uh, and you know, I'm hopeful in time I'll get my chance [9:58] uh to talk with President Trump and his key people. Um, you know, I the more time that's spent on this, the better [10:05] because we are not yet where we need to