Bill Gates says the next twelve months are likely to bring a surge of cyberattacks powered by artificial intelligence, as criminals gain access to increasingly capable AI models with few safeguards in place.
Speaking Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper, the Microsoft co-founder said the combination of bad actors, weak protections and advancing AI technology is a recipe for trouble.
“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,” Gates said.
Gates said he expects criminals to use AI tools to disrupt financial systems, extort businesses and carry out more sophisticated attacks generally. He pointed to extortion schemes and market manipulation as likely motives.
“The front that we’ll probably see most dramatically in the next year is cyberattacks, because there, there’s a known business model where, you know, you threaten to do something and ask somebody to pay for that, or you create a disruption that changes something in the stock market or some betting thing that you go and do,” Gates said.
His comments align with recent industry data. CrowdStrike’s 2026 Global Threat Report found that attacks involving AI-enabled adversaries rose 89% year over year in 2025, while the average time it takes cybercriminals to move laterally through a compromised network dropped to just 29 minutes.
Bioweapon risk also raised
Tapper also pressed Gates on a separate concern he has raised previously: that AI could make it easier for terrorists to develop biological weapons, with the risk of a bioterrorist attack potentially 50 times greater than that of a natural pandemic. Asked whether officials are doing enough to guard against that threat, Gates was blunt.
“Well, no, we’re not doing enough,” Gates said. “The real danger right now is not the AI is getting out of control. We need to work on that, but that’s years away in terms of the big impact that might have.”
Political reaction
Democratic strategist Billy Oliver told Fox News Digital that Gates’ remarks highlight the difficulty facing policymakers as they try to keep the United States competitive in AI development while managing its risks.
“The great challenge both for innovators and governments in the coming months is to balance continued progress in AI with smart regulation. Leaders who can balance ensuring that America is not left behind, but that no American is left out, will win public trust,” Oliver said.
Oliver called for regulation that combines federal and international standards with platform accountability, penalties for cyber and deepfake abuses, protections for children, and broader economic preparation for the disruption AI may bring to the workforce.
“Regulation should focus on federal and international standards, platform responsibility, cyber and deepfake penalties, child safety, and ensuring the participation of the population in the economic benefits of this powerful technological revolution — while starting to prepare our society for what could be profound workforce disruption,” Oliver said.
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