Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security publishes key takeaways from its meeting on the convergence of AI and biotechnology

December 19, 2023 – Today, the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security issued a summary of high-level findings that identify concrete next steps needed following its recent convening of leading AI labs, executive branch officials, and biosecurity experts. The meeting focused on what the US government and AI developers should do to stay ahead in efforts to mitigate potential risks from artificial intelligence and biotechnology (AIxBio).

The summary, titled “Advancing Governance Frameworks for Frontier AIxBio: Key Takeaways and Action Items from the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security Meeting with Industry, Government, and NGOs, 29 November 2023,” was informed by discussions during a not-for-attribution meeting hosted by the Center. The meeting was attended by around 50 participants, including those from 6 different leading AI companies as well as government officials from the White House and several government agencies with responsibility for managing potential AIxBio risks.

Meeting participants discussed what legal requirements might be warranted to reduce potential large scale AIxBio risks from highly capable AI models. Dialogue was centered on sharing perspectives rather than building consensus.

Representing solely the views of the Center, this meeting report calls for:

• the creation of an ongoing public-private forum to facilitate the sharing of important information related to biosecurity risks;
• a regulatory framework that defines mandatory practices, reporting, and oversight of highly capable AI models; and
• a legal accountability framework to incentivize developers and deployers of models to adequately address emergent risks.

Read the Center’s AIxBio meeting summary.

For more information, please contact: Melissa Hopkins, Health Security Policy Advisor
For media inquiries, please contact: Cagla Giray, Communications Director