AI rivals unite: Mandatory bioweapon screening urged for synthetic DNA orders

In an unprecedented bipartisan appeal, top AI rivals—including OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Microsoft’s Mustafa Suleyman, Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang, and Nobel laureate Demis Hassabis (Google DeepMind)—signed an open letter to US lawmakers demanding mandatory screening of synthetic DNA and RNA purchases. The letter, organized by the Foundation for American Innovation and the Institute for Progress, warns that as AI models become more capable and biological tools cheaper and more accessible, the risk of adversaries using AI to design and order dangerous pathogens is rising rapidly.

The current system relies on voluntary screening by major providers like Twist Bioscience and Ansa Biotechnologies, but the signatories argue this is insufficient. They propose making screening mandatory and requiring detailed record-keeping to track any threats that evade initial checks. The letter states: “Given the pace at which the underlying technology is changing, we believe the need is urgent. This is a rare moment of agreement across stakeholders that are often at odds.” Scientists have long warned that synthetic biology could enable engineered organisms or resurrected pathogens, but the combination of AI design tools and accessible genetic manufacturing now creates a new, immediate biosecurity gap.