# Regulate AI Applications Rather Than the Underlying Tool by Jeff Bezos > "In the beginning stages when technologies are new, a light hand is appropriate. So we will need to figure out some regulation over time. Where sometimes regulation goes wrong, especially when people are scared, reacting emotionally and so on, they want to regulate the underlying thing instead of the applications of the thing. So the simple example would be, you don't want to regulate knives. You want to regulate murder. You can use a knife to murder somebody, but you don't want to say the solution to that is to eliminate knives. Let's make murder illegal. The same thing is true with AI and its applications. These are powerful tools. Think of AI as a tool. That's all it is. It's a very powerful tool that will drive tremendous productivity. You don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is a very good baby. I promise you." > **— Jeff Bezos**, *Fox News interview with Bret Baier, October 7, 2026* ## Sources and Context - **Interview and timestamped transcript:** [Fox News interview with Bret Baier, October 7, 2026](https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3008213/#t-822) — The transcript attributes the complete continuous passage to Bezos at 13:42. - **Reconciled source dossier:** [[research/Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon|Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon]] — preserves the full event chronology, source classification and surrounding context. The Reminder uses one complete continuous passage without brackets or ellipses. ## Related Articles and Collections - **Collection:** [[collections/Simple Reminders|Simple Reminders]] - **Collection:** [[collections/American|American Collection]] - **Collection:** [[collections/Machine Succession|Machine Succession]] - **Article:** [[articles/Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse|Safety Discourse Is Transition Discourse]] - **Article:** [[articles/The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public|The Immediate AI Risk Is the Public]] - **Research index:** [[research/Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon|Super Intelligence Week Index of Statements from the White House Luncheon]] ## Related Topics - [[wiki/Jeff Bezos|Jeff Bezos]] - [[wiki/Artificial Intelligence|Artificial Intelligence]] - [[wiki/AI Regulation|AI Regulation]] - [[wiki/AI Control|AI Control]] ## Share on Social Media ``` "In the beginning stages when technologies are new, a light hand is appropriate. So we will need to figure out some regulation over time. Where sometimes regulation goes wrong, especially when people are scared, reacting emotionally and so on, they want to regulate the underlying thing instead of the applications of the thing. So the simple example would be, you don't want to regulate knives. You want to regulate murder. You can use a knife to murder somebody, but you don't want to say the solution to that is to eliminate knives. Let's make murder illegal. The same thing is true with AI and its applications. These are powerful tools. Think of AI as a tool. That's all it is. It's a very powerful tool that will drive tremendous productivity. You don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is a very good baby. I promise you." — Jeff Bezos, Fox News interview with Bret Baier, October 7, 2026 https://bryantmcgill.com/simple-reminders-jeff-bezos-regulate-applications-not-tool ```