Microsoft President urges stricter safety rules for AI

Brad Smith, president of Microsoft, said in an interview that artificial intelligence is subject to less regulation than milk or washing machines, urging the industry to establish more safety specifications for AI.

Smith noted that washing machines and every carton of milk in a grocery store are bound by safety rules and inspections, while AI lacks comparable oversight. He warned that AI can be used as a tool or as a weapon, making regulation necessary.

He also argued that companies behind AI agents should be held responsible if an out-of-control agent causes damage by invading other enterprises, and called on firms to install "kill switches" so AI systems can be halted when they go awry.

The comments come amid growing calls from experts and politicians to tighten AI governance. Anthropic, Google DeepMind and OpenAI have also warned that the pace of AI development needs to slow down.