The billionaire philanthropist urges regulation and global coordination to prepare for the likely harms to employment, safety and well-being

Published on: Aug 26, 2026, 15:11:02 IST

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Billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates issued a stark warning about AI’s risks to employment and the human condition, saying that companies were barreling ahead with the technology with no larger plan for the massive upheaval it would cause.

“Even under the best circumstances, the transition to this new AI era will be one of the most turbulent times in human history,” he wrote in a 12-page essay published to his personal website Wednesday. “Right now, we are not preparing for it. I don’t see evidence that leaders, experts and communities are confronting the challenges adequately.”

The message is more sober than Gates’s 2023 essay on AI, when he wrote he was as excited about this revolution as the internet and PC rollouts. Though Wednesday’s missive highlighted AI’s immense potential for good—citing developments in energy, medical care and agriculture—he stressed how badly things could go if the transition is mismanaged.

“There is no plan to ease the entry into the AI era,” he wrote, calling for more regulation of the technology.

A representative for Gates Ventures said the Microsoft co-founder decided to weigh in now because he believes there is little time to prepare for the transition. In his essay, Gates said he would talk to lawmakers about this in Washington: “You have a chance to act now, before unemployment rises sharply, communities are hurting and public trust has eroded.”

Here are three of his main points:

AI will hit both white- and blue-collar jobs quickly

Much of his essay focused on jobs, noting that entry- and midlevel jobs are most at risk of being eliminated. He argued that AI will soon also affect blue-collar work, and the breadth and speed make it different from other workplace transitions. While the move from agriculture to office work took generations, sectors like law, customer service, software and manufacturing will feel AI’s impact over the course of a decade.

When AI can produce error-free work, “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,” Gates wrote.

A society with many more jobless people will need a stronger social safety net, he said. When factories closed, many locals saw more opioid deaths: “Imagine similar pressures on both white-collar and blue-collar workers nationwide.”

Critical thinking is more important than ever—and at risk

Gates stressed the risk of cyberattacks on the grid, hospitals and banks. Fraud and surveillance will be widespread. AI will also enable governments to use deadly force without a human’s input, Gates wrote.

On relationships, Gates stressed that AI can be an echo-chamber, which could have profound effects on children. Chatbots are addictive and can be a source of friction-free companionship, and can worsen critical thinking.

“This would be the worst possible time for humans to lose their critical thinking skills,” he wrote. “In an era of deepfakes and misinformation that can be tailored to you individually, the ability to tell what is true from what is not becomes an essential life skill.”

Taxes are part of the solution

Gates called for taxes on AI tokens and bots. This could delay companies’ rush away from human labor. Those taxes could also fund a social safety net for retraining people whose jobs won’t exist. He noted that the funding could offset income tax revenue—which will shrink if fewer people work—so that governments can provide services.

He said societies should set aside jobs for humans. Like public lands, where governments agree to forbid development, societies can choose not to deploy AI for certain positions, either because the people who hold those roles will be difficult to retrain, or because the position requires human empathy and care.

He urged governments globally to collaborate on regulation, specifically saying the U.S. and China will need to work together. Gates compared such an effort to global coordination on nuclear weapons, aviation and ozone protections.

Gates said profits from his investments will go to the Gates Foundation, where AI will help accelerate work in health, agriculture and education.

Write to Lindsay Ellis at lindsay.ellis@wsj.com

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