MIT Technology Review · AI· MIT Technology Review·· 7 d ago
Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses
Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses
AI summary
Friday, October 16, 2026 Can AI design new life forms? 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.
Selection record
Threshold 76Media and individualsFirst 42Second 22
Not admittedSum of both 64 < twice the threshold 152
- Source tier
- Media and individuals; this tier's threshold is 76
- Pre-filter
- passed：AI设计病毒及生成模型应用
A model scores each item twice, independently, against one written standard, out of 100. An item is admitted only when the two scores add up to twice the threshold. The threshold is set per source tier.
Source: MIT Technology Review · AI · technologyreview.com