NTI and CACDA Issue Joint Statement Calling for Stronger Biosecurity and Responsible AI-Biotechnology Innovation

Amid rapid advances in bioscience and as artificial intelligence reshapes global technological capabilities, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) are jointly calling for action to strengthen biosecurity and oversight and engage in responsible practices to prevent accidents or misuse.

The organizations issued the Joint Statement on Shared Priorities for Strengthened Biosecurity and Responsible AI-Biotechnology Innovation outlining biosecurity risks identified as areas of shared concern and emphasizing the importance of forward-looking oversight and responsible practices to achieve common objectives.

The statement is an outcome of a Track II Biosecurity Dialogue held in Beijing in November 2025. Building on prior exchanges, the discussion brought together U.S. and Chinese experts from academia, industry, and non-governmental organizations to promote mutual understanding, share national perspectives, and identify opportunities for practical cooperation.

To advance practical risk-reduction efforts related to urgent and emerging biological threats, the statement calls on the international community to:

1. Elevate cooperation on preventing non-state actor misuse of modern bioscience and biotechnology as a shared priority.
2. Participate in joint international efforts to assess emerging biological risks, including at the nexus of AI and the life sciences, and to advance practical solutions that strengthen global safety and security standards.
3. Invest in biosecurity innovation, including the development of technical guardrails to ensure rapidly advancing AIxBio capabilities are protected from misuse and used safely and responsibly. This will be important for ensuring that AIxBio capabilities benefit society, advance human wellbeing, and support economic development.
4. Pursue mandatory nucleic acid synthesis and customer screening requirements, aligned with respective domestic laws and practices to address current and emerging biosecurity risks arising from rapid technological advances.
5. Support experts in jointly developing governance standards for oversight of dual-use life science research to serve as a reference for effective governmental decision-making.
6. Develop national and international frameworks to guard against the risks posed by mirror life, reaffirming the shared view that such organisms should never be created, and to support non-governmental efforts by experts to strengthen these frameworks.
7. Continue investing in the next generation of biosecurity leaders through exchanges, workshops, joint trainings, and participation in ongoing biosecurity dialogues.

Amid rapid advances in biotechnology and capabilities at the convergence of AI and the life sciences, international cooperation is increasingly essential to address evolving biosafety and biosecurity risks—including the potential for accidental or deliberate misuse by non-state actors.

The statement, signed by Dialogue co-chairs Jaime Yassif, PhD, then-vice president for Global Biological Policy and Programs at NTI, and Dai Huaicheng, secretary general of CACDA, reflects a shared commitment to responsible bioscience and biotechnology research and development. NTI and CACDA will continue convening this Track II Biosecurity Dialogue to sustain mutual understanding and explore practical avenues for cooperation on shared biosafety and biosecurity challenges.