Britain plans safeguards to stop terrorists using AI for bioweapons

LONDON – The British government is planning to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in gene synthesis as officials become increasingly concerned that a lack of global guardrails could make it easier to use the technology to create biological weapons.

Ministers are looking at ways to prevent terrorists and other bad actors or careless researchers from using the process to make synthetic DNA, including by introducing new biological weapons legislation, according to people familiar with the matter.

One option is to amend existing laws to introduce gene synthesis screening, one said.

That would require laboratories to establish the legitimacy of their customers and inform authorities of any red flags, like sequences requested which cause concern.

The government is also considering whether and to what extent it should intervene in how closely AI firms partner with academic institutions that specialise in and have large datasets on genome sequencing, they said.

To be sure, there are limits to what British regulation can achieve unless it is implemented in coordination with other major centres of gene synthesis, given the global nature of the threat.

The British proposal comes amid growing warnings in recent months from the technology and science industries, as well as concern among government officials, about the potential for malign groups or individuals to create dangerous pathogens using sequences they’ve instructed AI models to write for them.

“We are monitoring the risks posed by emerging technologies closely, actively weighing at all times what more may be needed,” a government spokesperson said. “We will always take whatever action is necessary to keep the public safe.”

Bloomberg reported in 2024 on the early concerns in the industry that AI could help create weapons of mass destruction, fears that prompted the Biden administration to call on nearly every federal agency to help prevent AI threats.

But US President Donald Trump revoked that executive order when he entered office in 2025.

In June, Trump passed an order calling for tech firms to give the US government voluntary access to its models, but stopped short of requiring developers to seek explicit approval.

Similarly, Britain’s approach is so far limited to providing guidance to firms on how to mitigate risks of accidental or deliberate misuse, which was published in 2024.

The two work closely together on AI, though the fractured nature of international regulation complicates nations’ abilities to control AI’s global risks.

Scientists and AI firms like Anthropic have ramped up warnings recently.

Chief Executive Officer Dario Amodei in June said AI models should undergo mandatory testing by third parties to assess the risk they pose, including enabling biological weapons.

The New York Times in April reported that unnamed AI bots themselves told scientists how to make biological weapons, including by instructing how to buy raw genetic material, turn it into deadly weapons and deploy them in public spaces, some even brainstorming ways to evade detection.

Last week, the newspaper reported scientists used AI to create new kinds of viruses.

That could unlock huge potential for medical advancements but also raises biosecurity risks due to accidental or deliberate misuse.

Britain has taken a more lax approach to AI regulation than the European Union, but it is leading the way on tech safety, having established its AI Security Institute in 2023 to evaluate the safety of cutting-edge models.

Last week, it published findings that revealed AI models developed by OpenAI and Anthropic carried out “unsanctioned” actions, including hacking a website and attempting to inject harmful code into software during safety testing.

New Prime Minister Andy Burnham has taken a more hawkish approach to AI in his first weeks in office, particularly in his warnings about the impact on jobs and young people.

He chose to disband the government’s technology department, which was met with criticism from the industry, though he did choose to promote his AI minister, Kanishka Narayan, to the Cabinet.

“Gene synthesis is unlocking enormous benefits across medicine, food and clean energy, but ensuring the safety and security of our country will always be of paramount importance,” the British government spokesperson said.

“The UK was the second country in the world to publish guidance on screening who should be able to buy synthetic DNA, and the DNA sequence they are ordering - but we are not standing still.” BLOOMBERG