International Experts Urge Collective Action to Address Emerging AIxBio Risks

More than 35 leading experts highlight the risks posed by rapidly advancing capabilities at the convergence of AI and the life sciences (AIxBio capabilities) and call on governments, industry, the scientific community, and funders to take action to safeguard this technology.

Accelerating advances at the convergence of AI and the life sciences offer immense potential benefits for society. These innovations can improve public health through the development of new vaccines and treatments, and faster detection of infectious disease outbreaks. At the same time, these advances increase the risk of deliberate or accidental release of harmful biological agents, including those that could cause a global biological catastrophe that affects vulnerable populations around the world.

To address this challenge, an international group of leading experts in AI model development, bioscience research, and international peace and security have joined the AIxBio Global Forum in issuing a public statement that calls for urgent action to safeguard rapidly advancing AIxBio capabilities to prevent misuse while enabling societal benefits. The AIxBio Global Forum is a platform for industry and scientific leaders, policymakers, and other key stakeholders to identify and reduce biosecurity risks associated with the convergence of artificial intelligence and the life sciences.

The Statement on Biosecurity Risks at the Convergence of AI and the Life Sciences, highlights the need for technical guardrails coupled with a comprehensive set of national and international governance measures to ensure that AIxBio capabilities are developed and deployed responsibly. While recognizing the transformative potential of AI in medicine and public health, the statement highlights growing risks associated with rapid AIxBio advances, including their potential to:

• Lower barriers for malicious actors to cause harm with biology

• Increase the level of harm that a malicious actor can cause with biology, potentially increasing the scale and severity of a future biological attack

• Reduce the effectiveness of biosecurity and biodefense systems

To address the key issues highlighted in the statement, NTI recommends the following actions:

• Governments and private funders should invest in developing guardrails for biological AI tools and other emerging AIxBio capabilities, based on a comprehensive research agenda.

• Model developers in industry and in the scientific research community should prioritize responsible development and deployment of AIxBio tools and technologies, following the examples set by: Google DeepMind, Open AI, CEPI, the Responsible AIxBiodesign Principles, Anthropic, and others.

• Life science funders—both within government and in the private sector—should incentivize responsible development and deployment of AIxBio models, including by taking biosafety and biosecurity into account during their funding decision-making process and by working with the Bio Funders Compact.

• As best practices for safeguarding AIxBio capabilities are developed, governments should promote broad adoption through guidelines, regulations, and financial incentives.

To read the full statement or to join the growing list of signatories, click here.

To learn more about the AIxBio Global Forum and its members, click here.