16/09/2026

BIZ & FINANCE WEDNESDAY | SEPT 16, 2026

/thesuntelegram FOLLOW / Malaysian Paper

ON TELEGRAM m RAM

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Ex-Google DeepMind employee latest researcher to warn that AI could ‘kill all humans’ BENGALURU: A former Google DeepMind employee on Monday became the latest AI researcher to warn that the technology could “kill all humans”, saying time could be running out to avoid the outcome. Public alarm about the potential danger posed by AI is growing, after Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon said last week he had resigned, in part because the “people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Anthropic scientist Evan Hubinger then responded to Coxon’s comments, saying he was correct and that he believed there was a greater than 10% chance that AI could kill all humans within the next decade. “I recently resigned from Google DeepMind, where I worked on AGI safety and alignment research,“ Bilal Chughtai wrote on X. “I earnestly believe that AI has the potential to kill us all, and that we might be running out of time to avoid this outcome.” Chughtai, who co-authored research papers while at Google DeepMind, worked there as a research engineer and left the company in July 2026, according to his LinkedIn profile. Google did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. Following recent concerns, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in the pace of advanced AI development over the weekend, winning rare backing from SpaceXAI’s Elon Musk and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and sparking a debate over AI “doomerism.” Chughtai also said that navigating AI safely was possible but would require coordination “to avoid this manic race between AI companies.” “We need to pace AI development to a speed that society can handle, where emerging risks can be addressed before extreme harm is realised,“ he added. President Donald Trump, however, has dismissed the warnings, saying on social media the AI industry’s call for regulation is a “hoax.” – Reuters

No government ready for changes AI will bring: Gates

LONDON: No government in the world is ready for the changes artificial intelligence (AI) will bring to society, Bill Gates said in an interview with Reuters, as he warned of the risks ahead. The Microsoft co-founder and billionaire philanthropist had until recently been optimistic about AI, but has changed his position, warning of the threats to jobs, concerns about attacks and the dangers of addiction to AI companions. “I don’t think any government is nearly as deep on this as they have to be,” he said. However, he added that the technology has great potential to help the world’s poorest if managed properly and accessed

working in education, healthcare and agriculture, the foundation said. It also aims to help build the data foundations AI is built on, such as ensuring that large language models work in every language people speak. “For health it’s hard to overstate what the potential is,” Gates said, from supporting frontline health care workers to discovering new drugs and vaccines. But he said governments must work together to avoid problems, likening the arrival of AI to a disaster movie. “There’s all sorts of movies where some aliens are coming, and magically the US and China and everybody comes together to solve the problem,” he said. “AI is kind of like this alien intelligence. It’s here, and we better do like it shows in those movies.” Reputational hit? In June, Gates appeared in front of Congress to testify about his relationship with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Gates, who is not accused of any crimes, has repeatedly said he regrets his association with Epstein, who he hoped would donate to global health causes. Instead, the financier attempted to blackmail Gates over his extramarital affairs. However, despite prompting an external review at his foundation, which found no payments to Epstein or participation in criminal activities, Gates said the links had not caused him or the foundation a significant reputational hit. “In terms of having access to government leaders, or you know, journalists being willing to interview me, I don’t see any diminishment,” he said, adding that the desire to draw on the foundation’s expertise to cut child deaths and end malaria had also not reduced “even one iota”.

o Microsoft co-founder warns of risks to jobs and security while highlighting the technology’s potential in healthcare

on this one,” he added.

equally – and his namesake foundation said yesterday that it plans to spend at least US$1 billion (RM4.1 billion) in the next two years on expanding access to AI. Gates said he has been talking to world leaders about his concerns, including President Donald Trump and his team in the US, and said he aims to meet China’s President Xi Jinping later this year. “Governments are way behind

Health potential But despite his concerns, Gates and his foundation hope AI can help narrow gaps between the richest and poorest, rather than widening them. The foundation’s US$1 billion spending plan, part of its previously announced plans to spend US$9 billion annually, will go to partners

Microsoft co-founder says AI could help narrow the gap between rich and poor countries if the technology is properly managed and made widely accessible. – SUNBIZ IMAGES

Airbus sees strong demand despite geopolitical risks HONG KONG: Airbus has not seen any softening in aircraft demand or deliveries due to geopolitical or supply chain headwinds, its Asia Pacific president said yesterday. “We continue to see strong demand,“ Airbus Asia-Pacific years, and about 45% of those will be delivered to the fast-growing Asia Pacific region. Francois Cabaret, Airbus’ head of global market forecast, said at the event that Chinese airlines face a huge catch-up in renewing their fleets. remains the world’s fastest-growing air travel market, with Airbus raising its domestic traffic growth forecast to 9.3% from 8.9%, while cutting China’s to 4.7% from 5.4%.

Cabaret said the China revision reflected macroeconomic factors rather than structural overcapacity. He said urbanisation globally was increasingly shifting towards smaller and secondary cities, with some 600 new small and medium-sized cities expected to emerge over the next 20 years, each generating new airport infrastructure and route demand. Stanley said Airbus’ smaller A220 narrow-body model had already enabled more than 400 new routes globally and could unlock a further 800 city pairs in Asia-Pacific, while the A321XLR could open more than 2,200 new potential routes in the region by offering wide-body range in a single aisle aircraft. – Reuters

Before the Covid pandemic, Chinese airlines were taking about 400 deliveries a year, but the collective number from Airbus, Boeing and Chinese planemaker Comac had since fallen to less than half of that, Cabaret said. Airbus data shows China, its single largest market for commercial jets, will need 8,830 new passenger aircraft over the next 20 years, India will need 3,480, and the rest of Asia-Pacific will require 6,880. The forecast highlighted diverging growth within Asia, where overall traffic was expected to grow by 5.1% annually over the next 20 years. India

president Anand Stanley said during a briefing in Hong Kong on its 2026 2045 market forecast focused on the Asia-Pacific region. “Not only that, we continue to see a strong readiness to take deliveries and a strong uptick in deliveries across the board, and this is not just in Asia Pacific, but we also see that we are continuing to do our deliveries in the Middle East,“ he said. Airbus deliveries have increased 9% so far this year compared with the same period in 2025, he said. The European planemaker forecast that about 42,000 new aircraft will be required globally over the next 20

Airbus expects about 42,000 new aircraft to be required globally over the next 20 years, with Asia-Pacific accounting for about 45% of deliveries. – PEXELS PIX