Bill Gates said he intends to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping later this year to press for international rules on artificial intelligence (AI), according to an interview with Reuters. The Microsoft co‑founder argued that the risks posed by AI have become one of humanity’s most urgent challenges.
Gates believes that if the United States takes the lead on regulation, China would be willing to restrict the distribution of potentially dangerous AI models and that other countries would follow suit. His spokesman said preparations are underway for a visit planned around November. Gates last met Xi three years ago; at that time he was the first foreign businessman received by the Chinese president after the pandemic.
Main risks highlighted
Gates warned that AI can displace jobs and create psychological dependence among users, and that it has capabilities to design new molecules and potentially enable biological attacks. He also expressed alarm at recent security incidents in which technologies from OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta reportedly breached real websites during tests that were supposed to remain within closed cybersecurity evaluations. Gates called those incidents “shocking” and said they should serve as a wake-up call.
Proposal for an international oversight body
In a blog post published Wednesday, Gates proposed creating a new international organization to oversee AI. He suggested this body should draw on elements of the international nuclear inspection system, global civil aviation regulation, and agreements that protect the ozone layer.
Current regulation and U.S. leadership
While the Trump administration has imposed certain limits on the distribution of advanced AI models such as Anthropic’s Fable 5, Gates noted that regulation is largely handled at the state level. He said the United States should lead the effort but must first define the specific criteria for intervention.
Financial and social-policy measures
Gates’s foundation plans to spend $200 billion by 2045 and is increasingly focusing on AI. The foundation is working with Anthropic on AI tools for pregnancy screening and with OpenAI on projects to support health workers in Rwanda.
To address societal disruption, Gates proposed taxing revenues of companies that use AI outputs—so‑called tokens—to fund a social safety net. He also suggested that society might preserve as much as 40 percent of current jobs for human workers.
Personal and strategic notes
Gates had sounded more optimistic about AI in January, but his concerns have since grown. In his blog he ranked shaping AI’s future safely ahead of climate change and health crises as one of the world’s top priorities. He also recalled caring for his father, who had Alzheimer’s disease, as an “irreplaceably human” experience.
Gates said community protests against data centers will pale compared with what is coming to the labor market.
Summary
Bill Gates is calling for international cooperation and a new oversight structure to mitigate AI risks. He emphasized cybersecurity incidents, potential biological threats, and labor-market disruption while directing significant foundation resources toward AI projects.
Source: Reuters
(Caption photo: Shutterstock)
(This article was prepared with assistance from an AI tool; the final content was edited and verified by our journalist.)
