Google's former chief warns AI could lead to a 'Bin Laden' style attack

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke to the BBC to discuss his concerns about artificial intelligence, highlighting a less commonly expressed fear: the possibility that AI could be weaponized for terror.

Schmidt, who led Google from 2001 to 2017, has been a strong advocate for responsible AI development. While the company is pushing towards artificial general intelligence (AGI) with heavy investments in Google Gemini, Schmidt has remained insistent on prioritizing safety throughout the process:

"It's really important that governments understand what we're doing and keep their eye on us."

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Credit: Citadel

His main fear lies in the possibility of AI falling into the hands of terrorists or "rogue states" - groups that could misuse the technology to inflict harm.

"Think about North Korea, or Iran, or even Russia, who have some evil goal. This technology is fast enough for them to adopt that they could misuse it and do real harm."

Schmidt specifically pointed to the risk of AI being used to create biological weapons, cyberattacks, or other forms of mass destruction. He references a chilling scenario reminiscent of past global threats:

"I'm always worried about the 'Osama Bin Laden' scenario, where you have some truly evil person who takes over some aspect of our modern life and uses it to harm innocent people."

Despite his fears, the former Google chief agrees that over-regulation could stifle innovation in the AI sector. At the Paris AI Action Summit this week, the Trump Administration refused to sign a global agreement that would set standards around the safe and ethical development of AI. This agreement was signed by dozens of countries, including France, China and India.

"The AI revolution which is the most important revolution in my opinion since electricity, is [now] not going to be invented in Europe." he said in response to the proposed regulations.

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