# AI Makes Nuclear Weapons Look Like Nothing by Bill Gates > “We always said that when we cross these thresholds, we will engage all of society, because we will have created the most dangerous thing ever. This makes nuclear weapons look like nothing. We said we would engage, and we crossed those thresholds, and there was complete silence.” > **— Bill Gates**, *The Ezra Klein Show, September 29, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Published source:** [The Ezra Klein Show, September 29, 2026](https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/08/bill-gates-dangers-ai/688418/) — direct or near-primary publication carrying the attributed statement. - **Article placement:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] quotes this statement in its analysis of AI danger, public competence, strategic acceleration and machine succession. - **Full contiguous excerpt:** “We always said that when we cross these thresholds, we will engage all of society, because we will have created the most dangerous thing ever. This makes nuclear weapons look like nothing. We said we would engage, and we crossed those thresholds, and there was complete silence.” - **Editorial treatment:** None. The complete contiguous passage is reproduced without insertion or omission. - **Context:** Gates is referring to the cyber and biological thresholds at which frontier AI gives small groups and rogue actors capabilities once limited to nation-states. His comparison with nuclear weapons is inseparable from his condemnation of the complete public and institutional silence that followed the crossing of those thresholds. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen|Vertically Integrating an AI Superpower from AI Factory to Citizen]] - **Companion article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] - **Wiki map:** [[wiki/AI Transition Governance|AI Transition Governance]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Bill Gates|Bill Gates]] - [[wiki/AI Capability Diffusion|AI Capability Diffusion]] - [[wiki/Threat Actor|Threat Actor]] - [[wiki/Terrorism|Terrorism]] - [[wiki/Biosecurity|Biosecurity]] - [[wiki/Cyber Operations|Cyber Operations]] - [[wiki/Proliferation|Proliferation]] - [[wiki/Nuclear Deterrence|Nuclear Deterrence]] ## Share on Social Media ``` “We always said that when we cross these thresholds, we will engage all of society, because we will have created the most dangerous thing ever. This makes nuclear weapons look like nothing. We said we would engage, and we crossed those thresholds, and there was complete silence.” — Bill Gates, The Ezra Klein Show, September 29, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-bill-gates-ai-makes-nuclear-weapons-look-like-nothing ```