"We are witnessing the birth of a child with an entirely new fresh technology, and already we are seeing the werewolves beginning to circle," Bloomberg quoted Snowden as telling the SuperAI event in Singapore via a video call.
"They will build a dam around us, but we have to make sure it doesn't stop our flow," Snowden said, referring to governments trying to regulate the use of AI by people.
He also predicted that all attempts to take over the AI are going to be futile, as the technology develops at too quick a pace with innovations being released all the time, the news agency added.
Artificial Intelligence, which is considered to be a disruptive technology, has caused concerns worldwide about its possible dangers. In summer 2023, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that AI posed long term global risks that could cause harm on a massive scale, and called for the establishing AI regulations.
Snowden fled the United States to Hong Kong and then to Russia, where he spent more than a month stranded at a Moscow airport while the US was trying to have him handed over to face a criminal trial on spying charges. Later, he was granted asylum in Russia and received a three-year residence permit in the summer of 2014 that was extended and eventually replaced by a permanent residence permit.