Uncontrolled AI could lead to 'silicon species' rivalling humans, warns Microsoft

The head of Microsoft AI has warned that without adequate safeguards, the development of AI could lead to the emergence of a new "silicon species" which competes with humans.

Mustafa Suleyman said rival firm Anthropic is treating AI like it is human, an approach he called "misguided" which could create technology that humanity cannot control.

Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, the chief executive said it was "right" for people to be concerned about AI, but there were "very practical things that we can do" to control it.

The comments are the latest in a series of stark warnings from the AI industry about the technology's possible dangers. Anthropic has been approached for comment.

Speaking to the Today programme on Thursday, Suleyman warned against firms continuing to create AI systems capable of setting their own objectives, earning money and owning assets.

That would mean "essentially seeding a new silicon species", he said, which could "no doubt compete with us for resources, no matter how much it cares about humanity and loves us".

Suleyman's comments to the BBC follow an essay he published earlier this week, external, in which he questioned Anthropic's approach to training its AI model Claude, despite praising boss Dario Amodei and his team as "intellectually honest people".

In it, he criticised Anthropic for teaching its AI to have human-like qualities, a practice known as anthropomorphising, which he said made it seem as though Claude had its own desires, values and sense of self.

He also warned tech firms risk creating something "impossible" to control by treating the technology like a human.

"They do not feel, experience, or suffer. They do not have innate preferences or underlying motivations.

"They are sequence completion engines, internally hollow, designed to follow instructions, and accomplish goals set by humans."

The Microsoft boss said greater transparency was needed around how AI systems are trained and evaluated.