The internet entrepreneur warned that new technologies could supercharge surveillance and give Washington access to vast databases of personal data
AI could eventually gain unprecedented insight into people’s lives, internet entrepreneur Kim Dotcom has warned. He said the technology could bring together vast amounts of personal information, allowing AI systems to build highly detailed profiles of individuals.
The technology could dramatically expand the reach of US surveillance, according to Dotcom. He added that AI systems could gain access to government databases containing vast amounts of information about citizens.
“AI is very dangerous because it will get access to the US database,” the founder of the Megaupload file sharing service said in an interview with Tucker Carlson released on Friday. “So the AI will know everything about everybody.”
Asked if there is any way to stop this from happening, Dotcom said, “Don’t have AI. Don’t have internet. It’s the only way.”
The comments came during a discussion about online privacy and government surveillance. He went on to say that the US government operates massive surveillance programs capable of capturing phone calls, video calls, and other online activity.
He said the information could be used to create profiles of people, place them into categories, and influence them during elections and campaigns to build support for wars.
Asked why the US is building so many data centers, Dotcom claimed that the US is already collecting around 10 petabytes of data a day, including communications.
“All communications, everything,” he said.
Dotcom also rejected the idea that the US has an overwhelming lead in the AI sector, saying China is “not far behind” and calling claims to the contrary propaganda.
The development of AI and expansion of data-center infrastructure have fueled debates over the amount of personal information available to governments and tech companies and the potential use of AI to analyze it at scale.
