Anthropic: This year has already prevented multiple attempts to develop biological weapons

According to the Financial Times, Anthropic stated that it has blocked multiple attempts this year by scientists to use its technology for related research that could assist in the development of biological weapons. The company cited five cases, claiming that the relevant actors circumvented control measures and obscured the research purpose to evade safety protections. In a report about models being used for malicious activities, Anthropic expressed the hope that by sharing these cases, it would spark discussions within the AI industry and among governments regarding emerging biological risks and responses.

The cases include a researcher from an "unsupported region" using Claude, spending weeks planning experiments involving avian influenza. Anthropic stated that the safety filtering mechanism restricted the research to the least capable models and emphasized that it could not determine whether the aforementioned scientist intended to cause harm, as the same information required for developing biological weapons could also be used for vaccine development. The company has banned the accounts mentioned in the report but did not disclose the name of the institution to which the researcher belonged or the country where the events occurred.