Top AI CEOs Call for Law Protecting Against Biological Weapons
Artificial intelligence magnifies concern that criminals could unleash new pathogens
- Top AI executives and security experts urged Congress to require safeguards for synthetic DNA and RNA.
- The executives signed a letter calling for companies selling synthetic nucleic acids to be required to screen customer orders.
- President Trump signed an executive order on model oversight and cybersecurity, shifting from a hands-off approach to AI.
WASHINGTON—Top artificial-intelligence executives are joining security experts in calling for Congress to protect against biological threats posed by AI, adding to growing pressure on lawmakers to address the technology’s risks.
Three major chief executive officers—OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Demis Hassabis of Google’s DeepMind AI lab—are among the signatories of a letter urging Congress to require safeguards when companies order synthetic DNA and RNA, a key step in developing certain vaccines and biotech breakthroughs.
The goal is to make companies that sell the synthetic nucleic acids screen customer orders to block any combinations that could be dangerous, and make sure the customers who place the orders are legitimate.
While the concerns are longstanding in the biotech industry, AI is magnifying them by potentially giving criminals the tools to unleash new pathogens.
“AI systems are improving rapidly, and alongside incredible benefits to science and medicine, there is a real possibility that the knowledge barriers which have historically prevented bad actors from obtaining biological weapons will meaningfully erode,” the letter says.
It was organized by two tech-focused think tanks that said the topic is a rare source of agreement among libertarians, progressives, researchers and rival executives.
The letter comes after President Trump on Tuesday signed a hotly contested executive order broadly focused on model oversight and cybersecurity, a shift from the administration’s previous hands-off approach to AI.
Altman met with White House officials and lawmakers Wednesday to discuss the company’s proposal for stronger requirements for model developers. OpenAI recently announced a new program based on its science-focused model to work with the federal government to prevent biological risks.
Altman and Amodei often disagree on AI policy, with Anthropic typically supporting stronger regulations than others in the industry. Hassabis is credited with helping Alphabet’s Google catch up in the tech race and shared the 2024 Nobel Prize for his work on an AI platform that can predict a protein’s structure and accelerate drug discovery.
Other signatories include Mustafa Suleyman, who leads Microsoft’s AI work, and Meta Platforms Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang.
Trump previously revoked a Biden-era executive order that resulted in a gene synthesis screening framework. The White House last year said it would replace the Biden framework with its own screening guidelines but hasn’t yet published a replacement policy. A White House official said the administration is committed to balancing innovation and safety.
Proponents of the screening said Congress should pass a law so that it applies to all purchasers of synthetic nucleic acids, not just those who voluntarily screen or those receiving federal funding who are most affected by executive orders. Several bills have been proposed that include the provision, but they haven’t gained traction.
Opponents said it is subjective which combinations of nucleic acids are considered dangerous and warn that the costs of complying could hurt startups.
Those costs are worth it given the risks posed by biological weapons, said Dean Ball, a former Trump AI adviser now at the Foundation for American Innovation think tank, which helped organize the letter. “If you’re synthesizing the stuff that yields biological life and viruses, we’re asking you to screen to see whether it is dangerous in some way,” he said. “That seems like a reasonable thing for society to insist upon.”