Bioweapon threat exposed as Anthropic sounds alarm on foreign actors plotting virus experiments

Researchers outside the United States used frontier AI models to plan experiments involving highly pathogenic bird flu, chikungunya and other biological agents with potential weapons applications, according to a new threat report from Anthropic.

The researchers used AI to study viruses’ transmissibility and immune evasion, investigate orthopoxvirus immune-response genes and help design novel toxins at times while taking steps to evade safeguards meant to restrict access to dangerous biological capabilities.