Gates urges AI safeguards as Trump opposes slowing development

Bill Gates called for governments to require monitoring and safeguards for artificial intelligence, arguing that such measures could address risks from malicious use without dramatically slowing development. President Donald Trump, by contrast, has opposed slowing AI, saying regulation could undermine the United States’ advantage over China. Gates made his case in an interview that aired Sunday, September 27. He said AI in the hands of people with harmful intent could enable mass-casualty events, including attacks on infrastructure or large-scale fraud. Those warnings were Gates’s assessment; the interview did not establish that such outcomes are likely or inevitable. Gates said safeguards should include monitoring systems inside AI companies so that activity can be observed and records reviewed. He argued that a shutdown mechanism alone would not provide enough insight to identify harmful behavior. In his view, law enforcement would have limited ability to investigate AI-enabled incidents without monitoring and records being built into systems. He also said required safeguards would add some operational burden for companies but would not dramatically slow their work.