A Startup Wants to Fight AI Bioweapons With AI

Radical Numerics says its new AI tool, Omnii Defense, can help researchers detect natural or AI-engineered pathogens using a laptop and a USB gene sequencer, including in places without internet access. The startup hopes it will strengthen early warning and public health defences, although many scientists consider AI-made bioweapons a low-likelihood threat.

The tool predicts whether a genetic sequence may be pathogenic or AI-generated, identifies its closest taxonomic group and assigns a threat score from zero to one. In company tests, it flagged 33 per cent of Bundibugyo virus sequences when that species was excluded from training, and 22 per cent when its entire genus was excluded; existing sequence-matching tools gave little indication of risk. The article notes that these results are from the company and includes cautions about the technology.