Former Google CEO: Companies' AI guardrails "aren't enough" to prevent harm

• "After Nagasaki and Hiroshima, it took 18 years to get to a treaty over test bans and things like that. We don't have that kind of time today," Schmidt said.
• The danger, he said, arrives at "the point at which the computer can start to make its own decisions to do things" — when, say, such a system discovers access to weapons, and we can't be certain the system will tell us the truth.
• Two years ago, that moment was expected to be 20 years off. Today, Schmidt said, some experts think it's only two to four years away.

What's next: Schmidt argued that the best solution is to create a global body akin to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to "feed accurate information to policymakers" so that they understand the urgency and can take action.

Of note: Schmidt said he's optimistic that AI will offer wide benefit to vast human populations: "I defy you to argue that an AI doctor or an AI tutor is a negative. It's got to be good for the world."

On the OpenAI boardroom drama: "It's pretty simple. The board fires Sam [Altman]. Sam fires the board." Once the OpenAI staff showed its loyalty to Altman with a mass open letter, Schmidt said, the outcome was inevitable: "How much more feedback do you need from your 360?"

Go deeper: 3 reasons why the OpenAI meltdown matters