Gates made the comments as governments and technology companies face growing pressure to establish safeguards around increasingly capable AI systems, while the Trump administration continues to prioritise maintaining the United States’ lead over China in the technology.
Speaking in an interview broadcast on NBC’s Meet the Press, Gates said he would like to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss the risks and regulation of artificial intelligence.
He argued that monitoring AI companies would not necessarily weaken America’s position in its technological competition with China.
“What he said is fine, but I think after he hears from me and other people, including that this does not disable us in whatever he thinks the nation-state race is, that, you know, we will come to a consensus,” Gates said.
Gates says AI requires global cooperation
Gates pointed to previous international agreements involving the United States as examples of how countries have cooperated when facing technologies or risks that cross national borders.
He cited areas including aviation safety, protection of the ozone layer and nuclear weapons, arguing that Washington had previously helped build international frameworks without using such agreements primarily to advance its own strategic interests.
“AI is one we’re going to have to go back to this, ‘Hey, humanity is all in this together’,” Gates said.
His comments come as governments grapple with a central question surrounding AI: how to introduce safety measures without slowing technological development or allowing strategic rivals to gain an advantage.
Trump rejects calls to slow AI development
Trump has taken a different position on efforts to impose restrictions on AI.
In a recent post on Truth Social, the US president wrote: “WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!”, while arguing that the United States was ahead of China and would maintain its lead.
Trump has also dismissed warnings about AI posing an existential threat to humanity, previously describing concerns about AI “taking over the World” and destroying humanity as a “HOAX”.
The president has argued that excessive regulation could give China an opportunity to overtake the United States in AI development.
Trump said the US was about a year and a half ahead of China in AI while speaking to Fox News during the Presidents Cup golf tournament in Illinois.
Gates warns of potentially catastrophic AI risks
Gates rejected the idea that concerns about AI’s potential dangers were simply exaggerated.
“It’s not a hoax at all,” he said.
The Microsoft founder said AI had become powerful enough to potentially contribute to events resulting in extremely large-scale loss of life.
“AI is certainly powerful enough to drive events that cause a billion deaths,” Gates said.
He added that the combination of advanced AI tools and people acting with harmful intentions presented an unprecedented risk.
Gates’ comments echo warnings from some researchers and AI industry figures who have called for stronger safeguards as systems become increasingly capable.
Earlier in September, former Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon warned that AI could potentially pose an existential threat within the decade. Anthropic alignment science lead Evan Hubinger has also discussed a significant risk of such an outcome within the same period.
Those warnings remain disputed, with other experts urging caution about highly speculative predictions concerning AI’s long-term impact.
AI regulation becomes a US-China competition issue
The debate has increasingly moved beyond questions of consumer protection and corporate accountability to become part of the broader technological competition between Washington and Beijing.
Trump has argued that maintaining America’s lead in AI should take precedence over regulatory measures that could slow development.
Gates, however, maintains that safeguards and technological leadership do not necessarily have to be mutually exclusive.
His argument is that international monitoring and safety standards could be designed in a way that limits dangerous applications without preventing US companies from developing advanced systems.
The debate comes as leading AI companies continue to invest heavily in increasingly capable models and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, technology executives and researchers have increasingly called for measures to manage the risks associated with more powerful AI systems.
Trump is also scheduled to meet Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei for dinner, according to the report, as the administration weighs competing arguments over AI safety and maintaining US technological dominance.
For Gates, the challenge extends beyond regulating individual companies. The larger question is whether countries competing for control of a strategically important technology can agree on common rules before the technology becomes significantly harder to govern.
