‘This is Insane!’ Bill Gates Shouts a Five-Alarm Warning About the Dangers of AI

Microsoft’s Bill Gates attends a dinner with President Donald Trump in the State Dining Room of the White House, Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates warned the world about the dangers of artificial intelligence — and said he’s “deafened by the silence” from others on the technology’s risks.

“Many jobs will disappear forever,” Gates, 70, wrote in a lengthy essay posted Tuesday night on GatesNotes.com.

“Unfortunately, right now we are not preparing for it. I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts, and communities are confronting the challenges adequately. There is no plan to ease the entry into the AI era,” he wrote.

Gates was careful to outline the “challenge” brought on by AI:

In terms of equity, AI will either be the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst source of injustice. The challenge is monumental. Even under the best circumstances, the transition to this new AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history. How will we use this technology to make the world a fairer place and keep it from widening the divide between rich and poor? How will we protect the people who are most vulnerable to the harms caused by artificial intelligence, including those who lose their livelihoods and the sense that they are in control of their future?

I believe that answering these questions and acting on the answers should be the world’s top priority. If the world takes the right steps AI will be a force for good and leave everyone better off.

His essay is a “striking” change in position from just three years ago, according to Semafor, which found Gates’ latest discussion of artificial intelligence is a big change from when he first deemed the technology “manageable.”

Gates now feels AI will leave the world with “far fewer” jobs, according to the outlet.

“I am in a state of shock that I’m sort of the first one saying, ‘This is crazy. This is insane,’” he told Semafor. “I’m just deafened by the silence.”

“The biggest shift for workers will happen when AI provides nearly error-free work,” he also notes in the essay. “At that point, it will be able to function on its own without a human checking in on it, and companies will have every economic incentive to let it.”

It is the first of several essays Gates plans to write, he said.

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