--- title: "Bill Gates Announces That He Is the First Person Ever to Be Concerned About the Effects of AI" description: "Bill Gates published a lengthy essay warning about AI's risks, sounding astonished that other elites aren't as outspoken as he is." date: "2026-08-26" modified: "2026-08-26" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/bill-gates-concerned-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" --- # Bill Gates Announces That He Is the First Person Ever to Be Concerned About the Effects of AI ![Bill Gates, Founder of Breakthrough Energy and Co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks onstage.]() *Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for The New York Times* Bill Gates can't believe that no one is worried about AI as much as he is. In a new [blog post]() — and [accompanying]() [media blitz]() — the billionaire suddenly sounded alarmed about how the technology is shaping our future after being blindly optimistic about it for years, warning that it'll annihilate jobs and desolate the economy. "AI will either be the greatest equalizer ever invented, or the worst source of injustice," he wrote in the nearly 6,000 word essay (which, incidentally, [isn't the only 6,000 word AI screed from a major tech leader this month]().) "Even under the best circumstances," he added, the "transition to this new AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history." Ever the protagonist, the Microsoft founder is astonished that no one else is as panicked about it as he is. "I am in a state of shock that I'm sort of the first one saying, 'This is crazy. This is insane,'" Gates [told *Semafor*]() in an interview. "I'm just deafened by the silence." One wonders when the last time he had his hearing checked was. Economists have been warning about how generative AI could disrupt the workforce since the moment that ChatGPT became a global sensation. Often AI companies themselves are parroting these same warnings. And that's not to mention the other ways that it's already having impacts beyond the economy, such as sowing misinformation and fueling mental health crises. But better late than never. Gates says he's worried about these impacts, too, warning *Semafor* that unlike previous technological revolutions in the past, which created more jobs than they destroyed, AI will do the opposite, touching virtually every field. "There isn't a job that isn't affected," he told *Semafor*. "It's different not because the speed is different, but the breadth is what makes it utterly, utterly a unique moment in evolutionary history." He also shared that he's finished writing a "whole book" about avoiding a pandemic caused by an AI-engineered virus. "The bioterrorism risk is 50 times the natural pandemic risk now," he said. Gates, however, is far from anti- AI. One of his chief concerns is that if we don't properly rein AI in, it might turn the newly jobless masses against this wonderful technology, preventing us from seeing it realized to its full potential. "What is the backlash going to be as these jobs go away?" he asked *Semafor*. "It'll make the data center thing look like nothing." One of Gates' most striking claims, though, is that tech leaders are knowingly downplaying AI's risks because of the money involved. "In private, people who understand how good this stuff is, and how much better it's getting, they're very worried," he [told the *New York Times*](). But rather than going public about these risks, "they're now saying to each other: 'Hey, man, don't say that. It's bad for us — the next trillion dollars we're trying to raise." Is Gates simply sticking his finger to the wind? His public image has been tarnished by recent revelations about his [interactions with the deceased sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein](), which cast his heavily publicized divorce and infidelity from a few years ago in an even nastier light. Still, if he's a bellwether for how tech elites are processing the incredible public backlash to AI, it could signal a shift in how the tech is deployed and regulated. **More on AI:** [*Trump Says You’re a Rube If You Don’t Want a Data Center in Your Backyard*]() ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()