Bill Gates says getting countries to agree on AI regulations will be harder than Cold War-era nuclear negotiations

The Microsoft co-founder said he believes governments should be involved in monitoring what AI does and that it won’t slow down the industry’s progress.

Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates called on the U.S. to be a leader in regulating the growth of artificial intelligence but warned that getting countries to agree on a global framework could be “more difficult” than Cold War-era negotiations to limit nuclear weapons. “This is more difficult than that was,” Gates told NBC News’ “Meet the Press” on Wednesday during a wide-ranging discussion on AI that aired Sunday. His remarks came as he spoke about President Donald Trump’s stance against regulating AI. The president earlier this month rejected calls for the federal government to impose guardrails for companies building AI models, saying in a post on Truth Social, “WHOEVER WINS AI, WINS!

We are leading China, and all others, and will continue to do so.” Gates argued Wednesday that regulating AI companies by imposing monitoring systems would not hamper the U.S. in any race with China to develop superior technology. “What he said is fine, but I think after he hears from me and other people, including that this does not handicap us in whatever he thinks the nation-state race is, that, you know, we will come to a consensus,” the tech mogul said. Gates later pointed to other times the U.S. has led the world in coming up with broad agreements to protect humanity. “Since World War