Scientists have designed a functioning virus from scratch using AI – what you need to know

Scientists are using AI to design new viruses. What could go wrong?

Scientists designed entirely new bacteriophages via AI, published in Science; models create functional viruses 90%+ similar to existing ones without pathogenic training data. AI viral-design capability now exceeds biosecurity regulation: risks bioweapon acceleration but enables cures for antibiotic resistance and advanced gene therapies.