Anthropic says it blocked possible misuse of AI for biological weapons
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Anthropic said Thursday it disrupted several attempts this year by researchers to use its AI models for biological research that could potentially aid the development of biological weapons, prompting the company to ban accounts and strengthen its safeguards.
In a 154-page report, “Detecting and Countering Misuse of AI,” the artificial intelligence (AI) company outlined five case studies involving researchers who used its Claude chatbot for advanced biological research with potential dual-use applications.
Following its investigation, the company said it banned the associated accounts, shared its findings with government authorities and other AI labs and strengthened its safety measures.
“We banned all associated accounts, worked with partners to take down the relay networks that evaded regional blocks and shared our findings with affected AI labs and government authorities,” Anthropic said.
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Anthropic said it disrupted several attempts this year by researchers to use its AI models for biological research that could potentially aid the development of biological weapons. (Davide Bonaldo/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Anthropic emphasized it is not alleging the researchers intended to cause harm, noting that biological research can be used to develop vaccines and treatments but can also be misused.
“Biological capabilities are dual use: they can be used for beneficial or harmful purposes, and it is often difficult to distinguish between them,” the report states.
“The same information that can be used to develop a biological weapon could also be used to develop, for example, a vaccine or a cure for a disease.”
One of the cases involved a researcher asking Claude to help draft a grant proposal for gain-of-function research on the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus.
Anthropic said the proposal involved modifying the virus to make it more transmissible and more dangerous.
While such research can help scientists develop vaccines and treatments, the company said it could also be misused to make the virus more harmful.
The company said it blocked the request and later discovered the researchers were using a third-party platform to bypass regional restrictions and automatically route rejected prompts to another AI model.
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One of the cases involved a researcher asking Claude to help draft a grant proposal for gain-of-function research on the mosquito-borne chikungunya virus. (Samuel Boivin/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Other cases involved bird flu, orthopoxvirus research and research related to non-transmissible venoms and toxins, according to the report.
“Sophisticated threat actors are aware that we…
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