Unprecedented! Sam Altman and Demis Hassabis are united in a shared resolve: It's high time we looked into the DNA.

Just now, an unusual thing happened in the AI circle.

Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Demis Hassabis... A group of people who usually compete fiercely with each other have signed their names on the same open letter.

They jointly called on the US Congress to legislate to enforce screening of all synthetic DNA orders.

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Do you still remember the famous scene in February this year?

At the Indian AI Summit, a group of tech tycoons held hands for a group photo. However, Altman and Dario didn't even want to stand next to each other. They each raised their fists and pretended to take the photo.

Now, these old rivals have "come together" again because of the same thing.

Moreover, it's not just them.

Those who signed this open letter include well - known figures like Hassabis, Suleiman, Alex Wang, Paul Graham, etc. Almost all the bigwigs in the US biological circle and national security circle are present... 67 people, each with an extremely impressive title.

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With such a luxurious lineup and a significant event, there has been a heated discussion online. Even X has specially created a Trending topic section.

After looking through the comments, some netizens praised it as a rare cross - camp consensus, while others thought it was just a new trick for AI tycoons to promote their IPOs.

Emotion analysis on Digg shows that 25.2% of the comments are positive, and 74.8% are negative.

(Although the numbers are constantly changing, the overall trend remains the same)

However, although there are many skeptical voices, no one can deny a fact:

When these people who usually dislike each other suddenly stand together, there must be something worth listening to seriously.

Synthetic DNA: Advantages and Disadvantages

What these bigwigs are targeting this time is synthetic DNA.

Synthetic DNA, simply put, means creating a brand - new DNA chain in the laboratory through chemical methods instead of extracting it from living organisms.

Generally, as long as you know the desired A, T, C, G base sequence, you can piece it together base by base, just like preparing a solution according to a formula.

This technology was first realized by biochemist Arthur Kornberg in the 1950s. It has a wide range of applications, from insulin production, mRNA vaccines, to gene editing, artificial meat, and biofuels, all of which rely on synthetic DNA.

Arthur Kornberg later won the Nobel Prize for this technology.

However, later people found that this technology could also be misused -

Since we have the ability to "write the code of life", in theory, we can also synthesize sequences related to some dangerous pathogens or toxin genes.

This risk of potential misuse, combined with the increasingly rapid development of AI technology, further amplifies the risk.

Before AI, the Threshold for Obtaining Synthetic DNA Has Decreased

But before the arrival of AI, the threshold for obtaining synthetic DNA has decreased. The open letter states quite straightforwardly:

Now, synthetic DNA technology is no longer exclusive to high - end laboratories.

The ability to order synthetic DNA online has accelerated vaccine development, promoted basic research, and enabled small teams to use capabilities that were previously only available to large institutions.

That is to say, now synthetic DNA can also be obtained through online shopping -

You enter a gene sequence online, then just place an order, make a payment, and wait for the delivery.

Moreover, the price is quite low.

According to the analysis of the "Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act of 2026" (S.3741) by the charity organization EA Forum, the price of some suppliers can be as low as $0.07 - $0.09 per base pair.

The letter mentions that since scientists made public the experimental scheme of "reconstructing viruses from DNA fragments" more than twenty years ago, this supply chain has been considered a weak link in biosecurity.

Of course, scientists and industry practitioners have not failed to come up with solutions.

For example, in 2009, the gene synthesis industry voluntarily established the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC) and introduced voluntary security screening standards.

Just hearing the word "voluntary", you can probably guess the implementation effect.

Facts have proved that this is indeed the case. For a long time, in the industry, large companies have been conducting self - inspections, while small companies do as they please.

After all, more than two - thirds of gene synthesis companies are not members of the IGSC.

AI Can Guide Virus Experiments, and Tech Leaders Call for DNA Security Legislation

What's even scarier is that in the past, there was at least a knowledge barrier for this technology.

Even if bad guys got synthetic DNA fragments, they would have to rely on years of study and experiment experience to turn them into a threat.

But now, AI has arrived. The open letter points out:

AI systems now outperform doctoral - level virologists in highly specialized laboratory operation issues, and in their respective professional fields.

This is not an exaggeration.

According to the test data of Anthropic's Frontier Red Team, within just one year, Claude has evolved from "inferior to top human experts" in virology professional tests to "far exceeding the human baseline".

Moreover, the overall test shows that in the professional fields where researchers think they are most proficient, the scoring rate of AI is 45%, while that of top human virologists is only 22%.

Even Anthropic's own research shows that the ability of doctoral - level biologists to complete weapon - related tasks with the assistance of AI has nearly doubled -

With each new generation of models, this number keeps rising.

AI provides knowledge, and DNA synthesis provides materials. These two lines are approaching the intersection point.

Facing such a worsening situation, this time, industry bigwigs are collectively calling for strict screening.

Screening is one of the most mature biosecurity measures with the least interference to normal activities.

It requires synthetic DNA providers and synthetic equipment manufacturers to check whether the synthetic requests contain worrying sequences and verify the legitimacy of customers before shipping.

Providers should also record synthetic orders and sequence data to support legitimate biosecurity investigations, so that any threats that may escape the initial screening can be traced back to the source.

Traceability itself can deter misuse.

Simply put, there are three things: check sequences, check customers, and keep records.

Moreover, the open letter specifically emphasizes that supporting screening does not require you to hold any specific stance on AI.

The reason why everyone has come together today is that "the arguments in the field of biosecurity have been recognized by scientists and governments around the world for decades". This is not an AI panic theory. It's a problem that has existed for twenty years and has finally reached a window for action.

Interestingly, the open letter also admits at the end:

This is a rare moment of consensus among stakeholders who usually have different opinions.

Using words like "different interests" and "rare" is enough to show the importance of this matter today.

One More Thing

After reading this letter, it's really hard not to think of "Jurassic Park".

The core of this movie is DNA synthesis technology:

Extract dinosaur DNA from amber, fill in the missing fragments, artificially synthesize a complete genome, and then revive the dinosaurs.

But what happened later? The dinosaurs got out of control.

There were preventive measures - power grids, fences, and all - weather monitoring. Hammond was confident that the security system was "sufficient".

However, just because an insider, Nedry, turned off the security power supply to steal embryos, the entire park collapsed overnight.

The Tyrannosaurus rex knocked down the power - cut fence, and the Velociraptors broke into the kitchen. Tourists and staff were in mortal danger.

All "voluntary" and "sufficient" security measures became zero in the face of a single loophole.

This is almost exactly the same as the scenario playing out in the real world - the DNA synthesis industry has relied on "voluntary screening" so far. Large companies implement it voluntarily, but more than two - thirds of synthetic providers are not members of the industry alliance.

As long as one link is not screened, the entire defense line becomes useless.

Perhaps it's precisely because they saw this that even old rivals like Altman and Dario are willing to sit down and sign their names on the same piece of paper.

Finally, let's recall the classic line of Dr. Ian Malcolm in the movie, which is so appropriate today:

Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether they could, they didn't stop to think if they should.

Think before you act in this era of rapid AI development -

It's difficult, but perhaps the right thing to do.

This article is from the WeChat official account "QbitAI". Author: Focus on cutting - edge technology. Republished by 36Kr with authorization.