Dell CEO urges AI safety rules and government involvement while warning against halting progress

Michael Dell likened artificial intelligence to fire, emphasizing that, like fire, it can be beneficial but also dangerous without proper controls. He urged companies to impose "bounded permissions" on AI agents and to keep human oversight when risks of harmful results exist. Dell said government has a part to play in establishing these safeguards, but he refused to outline specific policy measures, noting he is not a legislator.

He also cautioned that curbing AI research or data-center builds would damage the U.S. economy and advantage competing nations. Dell highlighted rising demand for Nvidia H100 chips and projected a widening gap between AI supply and demand through 2027, with new semiconductor capacity not arriving until 2029-2030. Dell Technologies reported record $47 billion revenue for its fiscal second quarter, with AI-focused servers generating $16.40 billion, double the prior year, and the company kept its full-year revenue outlook near $192 billion.