AI bioweapons: Anthropic claims scientists used Claude AI tool for dangerous research

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Anthropic, an AI company, revealed that its AI tool Claude was used or attempted to be used for biological research potentially aiding bioweapon development, including work on the chikungunya virus and avian influenza. This is the first public report by a private firm indicating misuse of an AI platform for biological weapons research.

Scientists have used, or attempted to use, the AI tool Claude five times for biological research that could support the development of bioweapons, the company that owns it has claimed.Details of the five cases were revealed in a safety report by the AI company Anthropic.1Examples it cited included seeking Claude’s assistance in research projects to genetically engineer more infectious strains of the chikungunya virus and a mammalian adaptation of highly pathogenic avian influenza.Other attempts were to assist in a grant application to explore immune evasion or virulence related genes in orthopoxviruses and plans to redesign deadly toxins.Anthropic said that this was the first public disclosure by a private company of evidence that its platform may have been misused in ways relevant to developing biological weapons. “Biological misuse is one of the most serious risks of frontier AI models,” the company said in its 10 September report. “Without the correct safeguards,...