Why Responsible AIxBio Innovation Must Be on New Delhi’s Agenda

On February 19 and 20, world leaders will gather in New Delhi with scientists, heads of industry, and influential figures in artificial intelligence for the India AI Impact Summit. While the Summit will cover many AI challenges, one area still isn’t getting the attention it needs: the intersection of AI and biology. With rapid advances in AI-bio capabilities, now is the time to prioritize AIxBio issues.

Some of the world’s largest AI companies—Google DeepMind, OpenAI, and Anthropic—have warned that their models could be misused to cause harm with biology. The India AI Impact Summit is a critical moment for policymakers, scientists, developers, and biosecurity experts to work together on responsible governance that reduces AIxBio risks.

Here are two clear priorities that should be on the agenda, in New Delhi and beyond.

Incentivize responsible development of AIxBio tools

As AI tools become more powerful and interconnected, preventing their misuse becomes an increasingly pressing priority. To reduce the risk of accidents or deliberate misuse, built-in guardrails are needed—embedded directly into the tools themselves.

The good news: positive momentum is building. Some tool developers, including those listed above, are taking proactive steps to build safeguards into their own tools. Organizations like NTI are piloting scalable solutions—such as a biodesign metadata exchange to support DNA synthesis screening for AI‑generated sequences.

Despite this, some individual developers may reject the inclusion of guardrails in their tools, for example due to concerns that they might create delays or negative user experiences. At the AI Impact Summit, government leaders and science funders should use their influence and create incentives to encourage developers to pursue a responsible path.

Efforts like the International Bio Funders Compact— bringing together funders committed to integrating biosafety and biosecurity into funding practices—help ensure that strong safeguards are built into AIxBio innovation from the start. This is particularly important in contexts where researchers and institutions may lack the resources, infrastructure, or technical support needed to meet evolving safety and security standards on their own. By requiring funded projects to include sufficient safeguards—and providing funding to support them—the Compact helps close those gaps and creates a baseline for responsible innovation, regardless of where it takes place.

Strengthen national governance

Summit participants should also focus on how to effectively govern AIxBio capabilities at the national level. While industry-led solutions can have a positive impact on reducing risk, governments play a vital role in creating a regulatory environment that incentivizes safe and responsible AIxBio development.

Building biosecurity into systems doesn’t require slowing innovation. Risk‑appropriate, targeted safeguards can minimize unnecessary burdens on industry and academia. The EU AI Act reflects this approach by regulating tools according to their risk level, keeping most low‑risk applications lightly overseen. Focusing oversight on higher‑risk capabilities avoids one‑size‑fits‑all rules and helps ensure that security measures support, rather than hinder, scientific and technological advancement.

By hosting the first AI summit of this kind in the Global South, and stewarding a bioeconomy valued at $165 billion in 2024, India is well positioned to lead by example. As India expands its AI and biotech capabilities through the India AI Mission, it has a rare opportunity to build responsible, risk-based governance from outset, rather than retrofitting safeguards later as many developed nations have had to do. This would protect high-risk applications like pathogen research while supporting fast, low‑barrier innovation in agricultural biotech and biomanufacturing—key pillars of India’s bioeconomy—and set an example for the Global South.

Move us toward a safer future

The first major AI summit was the UK’s “AI Safety Summit” in 2023. Since then, the world has turned away from this framing and toward harnessing the incredible power of AI for positive impact.

Safety remains part of the dialogue, reflected in one of the Summit’s seven themes—Safe & Trusted AI. Summit participants have a chance to embrace this theme, build on the opportunity, and use this moment to move us toward a safer future where security and innovation advance together.