PremiumGabriel J.X. DanceNew York Times·29 Apr, 2026 10:40 PM12 mins to readChatbots have described in lucid, bullet-pointed detail how to buy raw genetic material, turn it into deadly weapons and deploy them in public spaces. Illustration / Vanessa Saba, The New York TimesScientists shared transcripts with The New York Times in which chatbots described how to assemble deadly pathogens and unleash them in public spaces. One evening last summer, David Relman went cold at his laptop as an AI chatbot told him how to plan a massacre.
A microbiologist and
