AI leaders call for tougher protections against AI-aided bioweapons | The Verge
Overview
Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
Details
Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy
Gadgets Expand Laptops Phones TVs Headphones Speakers Wearables See all gadgets
Verge Shopping Expand Buying Guides Deals Gift Guides See all shopping
Streaming Expand Disney HBONetflix You Tube Creators See all streaming
Transportation Expand Electric Cars Autonomous Cars Ride-sharing Scooters See all transportation
AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Science Close Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Science
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
AI leaders call for tougher protections against AI-aided bioweapons
AI industry rivals rarely agree, but they’re all concerned their technology could be used to develop biological weapons.
AI industry rivals rarely agree, but they’re all concerned their technology could be used to develop biological weapons.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Some of the AI industry’s biggest rivals have put their many, many grievances aside for a common cause: making it harder for people to use their technology to develop biological weapons. In an open letter to US lawmakers, tech leaders are pressing Congress to enact rules closing what they say is an alarming biosecurity gap that could help trigger a global pandemic.
Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Open AI’s Sam Altman, and Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman are among the signatories urging US lawmakers to require companies selling synthetic DNA and RNA — genetic material that can ordered online and assembled in a lab — to screen purchases for sequences that could be used to make dangerous pathogens. The fear is that AI tools could make it easier to design potentially dangerous sequences, order them from manufacturers, and use them in ways that would previously have required more specialized expertise.
Other signers include Meta’s AI chief Alexandr Wang and Google Deep Mind’s Demis Hassabis, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on AI-based protein prediction. The letter was also signed by prominent scientists, national security and policy experts, and executives from biotech companies including Twist Bioscience and Ansa Biotechnologies, both major sellers of synthetic genetic material. The letter was reportedly organized by two think tanks: the Foundation for American Innovation and the Institute for Progress.
Scientists have long warned that advances in synthetic biology could make it easier for scientists to engineer dangerous organisms or even resurrect long-dead pathogens — work that could cause devastation if misused, mishandled, or released by accident. But that power has largely remained in the hands of skilled scientists with access to sophisticated labs, equipment, and resources. The concern now is that, as biological tools become cheaper and more accessible and AI models become more capable, barriers preventing misuse are beginning to crumble. Experts also warn that AI could help produce other threats like chemical weapons.
While the letter acknowledges many of the largest providers of synthetic DNA and RNA already screen orders, it is done on a voluntary, not mandatory, basis. Detailed records should also be kept on any orders, in order to track any threat that evaded initial screening, the letter says.
“Given the pace at which the underlying technology is changing, we believe the need is urgent,” the letter says. “This is a rare moment of agreement across stakeholders that are often at odds. We hope policymakers will meet it with decisive action.”
Robert Hart Close Robert Hart AI Reporter Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All by Robert Hart
Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
AIClose AIPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All AI
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Health Close Health Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Health
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
News Close News Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All News
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Science Close Science Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. Follow Follow See All Science
Posts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.
Microsoft and Open AI broke up — now they’re ready to fight
A first look at Microsoft’s Surface Laptop Ultra and Surface Dev Box
Gemini Spark is the most impressive and terrifying AI experience I’ve had yet
Nintendo confirms it will sell a new Switch 2 with replaceable battery in the EU
Key Takeaways
- Tech Expand Amazon Apple Facebook Google Microsoft Samsung Business See all tech
- Reviews Expand Smart Home Reviews Phone Reviews Tablet Reviews Headphone Reviews See all reviews
- Science Expand Space Energy Environment Health See all science
- Entertainment Expand TV Shows Movies Audio See all entertainment
- Policy Expand Antitrust Politics Law Security See all policy
