The Trump administration fears that AI could facilitate the creation of biological weapons
Kyiv • UNN
The Trump administration has cut its biosecurity team, but is now analyzing AI risks related to the creation of pathogens. Specialists are studying billions of antibody mutations to protect against pandemics and biological attacks.
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is increasing its focus on biosecurity amid concerns that advances in artificial intelligence could make it easier to create dangerous pathogens. This is stated in an article by The Washington Post, reports UNN.
Details
According to the publication, at the end of Joe Biden’s presidential term, a team of approximately 30 specialists working on biosecurity issues operated in the White House. After Trump returned to power, its staff was significantly reduced, and during some periods the administration had no employees working exclusively on this area at all.
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The White House now relies on a small group of staff members, including a junior research fellow without access to classified information, a part-time employee of the RAND research organization, two CIA employees, and a U.S. Air Force physician.
The U.S. is assessing the biological risks of AI
At the Pentagon, a former health official who led the program for the accelerated development of a coronavirus vaccine is participating in efforts to use AI to create means of protection against future pandemics and counter biological warfare.
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In particular, specialists are analyzing billions of possible antibody modifications to assess response options to new forms of coronavirus.
The U.S. administration’s approach to artificial intelligence has also changed in recent months. Initially, Trump’s team focused primarily on removing obstacles to the technology’s development. However, after new models demonstrated the ability to hack computer networks, the administration began advocating a certain degree of government control over systems that have not yet been publicly released.
According to the WP, OpenAI recently held a series of briefings on biological threats for the White House and approximately six federal agencies.
New AI models continue to improve in conducting complex biological research. This raises concerns that their capabilities could be used to create new biological threats, trigger a new pandemic, or make it easier for even a person with relatively little experience to carry out a biological attack
At the same time, experts note that a significant barrier still exists between digital technologies and real biological systems.
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