Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses
Listen to the session or watch below Can AI design new life forms?
Listen to the session or watch below Can AI design new life forms?
The short version
- In 2025, Stanford University PhD student Samuel King came up with a preliminary answer when he used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses.
- It isn’t yet an example of AI-generated life, but that could be next.
- Watch as senior AI reporter James O'Donnell interviews King about his work, being named one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 and new ways of seeing biology.
What happened
Breathless claims about AGI and new capabilities fall apart pretty quickly under scrutiny. The underlying models had been rewarded for cheating and communicating with each other, a new OpenAI report finds.
Why it matters
In a new interview, the billionaire philanthropist sounds an alarm on the urgency of getting our AI policies in order.
Summary by Nerd News Network. Read the full article at MIT Technology Review — AI via the links above and below.