Bill Gates has warned that AI could make cyberattacks more dangerous, particularly if bad actors can use advanced models after safeguards are removed. He argues that relying on AI companies to police themselves is not enough. But the available sources do not confirm the title’s claim that Gates wants a new meeting with Donald Trump.
What Gates warned about AI
In an October 11, 2026 report, AFP quoted Gates warning that society is not doing enough to oversee what he called the most dangerous technology humans have invented. His concern was not simply that AI exists; it was that people could misuse powerful models, especially when protections are absent.
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“The idea that for the most dangerous technology humans ever invented, that that’s the final word, that just the companies themselves are the only check that society has…it’s clear we’re not doing enough,” Gates said, according to AFP.
Why he singled out cyberattacks
Gates predicted that bad actors using the latest models without safeguards could lead to “negative surprises” over the following year, primarily in cyber. That is his forecast, not a measured estimate of how many attacks will occur or evidence that a specific attack is imminent.
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AFP also attributed this warning to him: “It’s really bad people using AI, particularly in AI where you can take out all the safeguards.” He added: “But right now, you’re allowed to take all those safeguards out. So when you have bad people, no safeguards, and then the latest models, that’s where, over the next year, primarily in the cyber area, we are going to have a lot of negative surprises.”
The point is about human misuse of AI and whether protections are adequate. The cited accounts do not establish that AI systems will independently escape human control.
Why Gates says company self-regulation is insufficient
Gates’s policy argument is that companies should not be society’s only check on a technology that can be abused. In an interview transcript, he argued for safeguards and monitoring to reduce risks from bad actors, including cyber and biological misuse. Those are his assessments and proposed protections, not proof that any particular regulatory plan will work.
The interview also discusses the Trump administration’s approach to AI. AFP characterizes Gates as criticizing the view, attributed to Trump, that AI companies’ self-regulation is enough to protect the public. These accounts describe a disagreement over the adequacy of company-only oversight; they are not a comprehensive account of federal AI policy.
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Does Gates want a new meeting with Trump?
That claim is unconfirmed. In The Ezra Klein Show interview transcript, Gates says the last time he talked with Trump was in December. The transcript does not establish when that December conversation occurred or say that Gates has requested, or wants, another meeting. A prior conversation and disagreement over policy are not evidence of a new meeting request.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the “most dangerous technology ever” characterization means
The wording reflects the gravity of Gates’s warning, but it should not be treated as a confirmed verbatim quote from him in this report. In a 2024 Washington Post transcript, General Mark Milley recalled that Gates, Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk had expressed views to the effect that AI could be humanity’s most powerful and potentially most dangerous technology. That is Milley’s summary of their views, not a direct quotation from Gates.
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