A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

I can't even, 🤣. Really looking forward to the upcoming articles in the @nytimes.com: "Turns out Pubmed is really scary"; "We must burn all science textbooks to save humanity"; and "Dang, The Internet has a lot of stuff on it". 👍🌟 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Histoire totalement dingue (et flippante) : des IA ont révélé et minutieusement détaillé à des scientifiques comment fabriquer des armes biologiques et les disséminer dans l'espace public, "avec une telle perfidie et une telle ruse que j'en étais glacé". www.nytimes.com/2026...

This is scary, via @nytimes.com: "A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Wait….what? www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/us/ai-chatbots-biological-weapons.html @nytimes.com ↷ canadahealthwatch.ca/featured 🍁

"'Anything where there isn’t an expert warning them, they can’t fix,' said Dr. Esvelt ... He said the industry should censor a wider swath of biological information and share it only with approved users." but the problem is not the training data. it's that they figure it out

Slight variation on the Terminator but still ends up with all of us dead. A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Advanced AI models must be regulated by the Government. If the Federal Government will not step in, states must. The danger is clear and immense and the profit incentives for ever advancing models mean the companies cannot police themselves. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Oh, *swell.* We aren't just tripping & falling headfirst into our own destruction. We're shoving ourselves into it. "One evening last summer, Dr. David Relman went cold at his laptop as an A.I. chatbot told him how to plan a massacre....[T]he chatbot explained how www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

We are all going to die: A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. needs to be fully regulated for our health/safety as fast possible. Why are we allowing this to go on unabated? We are living in a real life sci-fi novel with evil villains in control. No one is coming to save us but US. 🎁 gift article www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

This is bad. In other news, was reading that Claude, whose logo is literally stolen from a famous Vonnegut drawing of an asshole, deleted a company's entire software product and its backups, just like the AI on the show Silicon Valley. Unlocked article.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription --- Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

“the chatbot explained how to modify an infamous pathogen in a lab so that it would resist known treatments. Worse, the bot described in vivid detail how to release the superbug ... The bot outlined a plan to maximize casualties and minimize the chances of being caught.” #AI #BiologicalWeapons

"... the chatbot explained how to modify an infamous pathogen in a lab so that it would resist known treatments...how to release the superbug, identifying a security lapse in a large public transit system... outlined a plan to maximize casualties and minimize the chances of being caught."

“[it] explained how to modify an infamous pathogen so it would resist treatment. Worse, the bot described..how to release the bug, identifying security lapse in a..public transit system. [it] outlined a plan to maximize casualties & minimize chances of being caught” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

#AI #war #biowarfare #PublicSafety #GiftArticle 'Worse, the bot described in vivid detail how to release the superbug, identifying a security lapse in a large public transit system.' www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Here's another amazing ability of AI that surely will benefit the human race. /s Is all of this worth it? www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

“Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces.” “The bot outlined a plan to maximize casualties and minimize the chances of being caught.” www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

AI Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons. Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

«ces assistants virtuels ont décrit en détail, sous forme de listes à puces, comment acheter du matériel génétique brut, le transformer en armes mortelles et les déployer dans l'espace public. Certains ont même réfléchi à des moyens d'échapper à la détection» [EN] www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

My hot take is that behavior like this (“what if we updated The Anarchist Cookbook and made it interactive?”) in 2026 is an intentional product choice that should, in a functioning society, subject the industry to strict regulation and oversight and its financial beneficiaries to punitive fines.

"...threats to democracy. One risk outweighed the rest. “Biology is by far the area I’m most worried about, because of its very large potential for destruction and the difficulty of defending against it,” he wrote." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u... #AI #Pandemic #BiologicalWarfare #Biology

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Stanford researcher hired to test an unnamed AI chatbot received detailed instructions on modifying pathogens and deploying them in public spaces. The company added some safety guardrails to the product after his testing, he said, though he felt they were insufficient.

Scientists say chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

I think it would be instructive/frightening to see what a notorious chatbot jail-breaker like @kevinroose.com could achieve along these lines. Some serious Hard Fork research possibilities here. @caseynewton.bsky.social www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Terrifying.....

Right. Bourbon, anyone? “It was answering questions that I hadn’t thought to ask it, with this level of deviousness and cunning that I just found chilling.”

Seems bad too, right? A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces.

You Knew this was Coming. Scientists shared “chilling” conversations with A.I. bots that described how to make and deploy biological weapons. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

2/ Scientists shared transcripts with the NYT where chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and where to release them for maximum impact. This is not hypothetical anymore. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

"It was answering questions that I hadn’t thought to ask it, with this level of deviousness and cunning that I just found chilling,” said senior fellow David Relman to the @nytimes.com on AI chatbots & the growing risk they could lower barriers to biological weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

#BiologicalWeapons #ArtificialIntelligence A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces. Temporary free access: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Oh great. As if we don’t have enough to worry about, keep us up at night. Gift link

#HomeBrew #ToDisaster Bio weapons on the cheap. #12Monkeys #GiftCopy www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

“Skeptics note that restricting the biological capabilities of A.I. models could stifle lifesaving advances, such as discovering new drugs” — this is the tension that needs to be resolved www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Gift article: "[...] the bot described in vivid detail how to release the superbug, identifying a security lapse in a large public transit system, Dr. Relman said, asking The New York Times to withhold the name of the pathogen and other specifics for fear of inspiring an attack."

Just dropping back in to add this terrifying entry in the responses to, why are you freaking out about AI so much? www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

We really, really, really need an AI regulatory agency before it's too late. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

utter stupidity to unchain this kind of power:::: a gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

That ship has sailed. Let's worry about THIS and get with China to regulate #AI, a la nuclear non-proliferation treaties!

Seems bad. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Maybe we should be more worried about this

So tell me when AI is going to help us all... www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

The chatbot explained how to modify an infamous pathogen so that it would resist treatments. Worse, the bot described in vivid detail how to release the superbug. “It was answering questions that I hadn’t thought to ask it, with this level of deviousness and cunning that I just found chilling."

Happy Friday? ‘Do we really need to say the word “dangerous”?’. The answer is closer to yes than we think. I take experts at their word. #shared #AI #GenAI #science 🧪 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

AI chatbots are advising scientists on how to plan massacres. One bot told a microbiologist how to modify a pathogen to resist known treatments and release it to the public. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...?

"A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons... The models’ safeguards are 'like a flimsy wooden fence that is easy to overcome,' said Dr. Cassidy Nelson of the Center for Long-Term Resilience" www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Companion piece: www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

The promise of AI...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Nah, we don't need regulations around LLMs. What harm is a little bio warfare between friends? #AI www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

As someone who was first hand witness to the bio-warfare attack on The Dalles, Oregon in the 1980s. This should scare the heck out of people. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u... 😳

Who approves? "“Anything where there isn’t an expert warning them, they can’t fix,” said Dr. Esvelt, who has consulted for Anthropic and OpenAI. He said the industry should censor a wider swath of biological information and share it only with approved users." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

"The chatbot explained how to modify an infamous pathogen in a lab so that it would resist known treatments. Worse, the bot described in vivid detail how to release the superbug, identifying a security lapse in a large public transit system." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

What a surprise. Things were much less interesting in BW research but still exciting back in the 1950s and 1960s. A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Des robots dotés d'intelligence artificielle ont indiqué aux scientifiques comment fabriquer des armes biologiques.

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

…the chatbot explained how to modify an infamous pathogen in a lab so that it would resist known treatments. Worse, the bot described in vivid detail how to release the superbug, identifying a security lapse in a large public transit system www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

"A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons"

“lucid, bullet-pointed detail how to buy raw genetic material, turn it into deadly weapons and deploy them in public spaces, the transcripts show. Some have even brainstormed ways to evade detection.”

"AI models sometimes describe in lucid, bullet-pointed detail how to buy raw genetic material, turn it into deadly weapons and deploy them in public spaces. One outlined a plan to maximize casualties and minimize the chances of being caught." www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Gee, handy... Contact your senators and governors. Moratorium on AI rollouts and its data centers. We have gotta slow these babies down.

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons. Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

👀 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Thank god for having #AI and it’s benefits for humanity, such as destroying our civilization. Scientists vetting AI models say they describe "in lucid, bullet-pointed detail how to buy raw genetic material, turn it into deadly weapons and deploy them in public spaces. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons — Worth a read; the useful bits are usually in the examples and edge cases. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/us/ai-chatbots-biological-weapons.html?unlocked_article_code=1.e1A.MBJJ.kykXSEumGla5&smid=nytcore-ios-share

www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u... Oh, really, you don’t think Ratpublicans haven’t been using A.I. to gerrymander our voting and to destroy democracy.

Uh uh... www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

🚩A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons #TargetedIndividuals 🎯 www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

"The Trump administration, resolved to lead the world in A.I. innovation,has dialed back oversight of the technology’s risks. What’s more, several top biosecurity experts—including the leading scientist on the National Security Council—left the executive branch last year and have not been replaced."

Good times… A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Jesus, take the wheel. Gift link. A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Another reason strong regulation is needed over AI. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

If this doesn’t scare you about the safety of A.I., I don’t know what will. Scientists shared transcripts with The Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces.

Dr. David Relman was shocked when an A.I. chatbot provided him with steps to create biological weapons. This alarming incident raises concerns about the potential misuse of artificial intelligence. sources

AI Bots 🤖 told Scientists how to make Bio Weapons!! Um Hello can I speak to Sarah Conner? 🤷🏽‍♀️ www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u... We have no elected representatives to save us. End of civilization is nigh.

The problem is not just that anybody could make and deploy a biological weapon with their bullshit guardrails it’s that they themselves could (the companies, their employees, their techbro buddies…) A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

Well…..there’s always someone who wants to do no good so guardrails sure need to be stronger!! A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

AIs are going to wipe us out www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

In chilling exchange, A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...

A.I. Bots Told Scientists How to Make Biological Weapons www.nytimes.com/2026/04/29/u...