Bill Gates Warns AI Could Fuel a Surge in Cyberattacks Next Year

Bill Gates has issued a warning that artificial intelligence lacking oversight represents an increasing risk, and he projected that cyberattacks assisted by AI will intensify during the next year. In a CNN interview with Jake Tapper, the Microsoft cofounder described AI as the most hazardous technology ever created by humans and said the public must act before the consequences become unmanageable. Gates said the area likely to produce the most visible problems within a year is cyberattacks. He noted that the immediate threat is not AI breaking free of human control. Although that issue requires attention, he said its major effects are still years off. The current problem, according to Gates, is malicious people using AI, especially when protections can be stripped away. He said tighter rules are necessary to stop bad actors from employing AI for bioterrorism and cyberattacks. Gates told CNN that safeguards can presently be removed, creating a combination of bad actors, no protections, and the newest models. That mix, he said, will probably lead to numerous negative surprises over the next year, mainly in the cyber domain. Gates had warned in a lengthy August post that the world was dangerously unprepared for the disruption caused by AI, especially in employment. He is the latest tech magnate to raise alarms about the risks of the new technology. During his Sunday interview, Gates rejected the position promoted by US President Donald Trump that AI companies could regulate themselves enough to keep the world safe. Gates said that treating self-policing by the companies as the only societal check for the most dangerous technology ever invented made clear that more action is needed.