OpenAI announced comprehensive biological AI safety measures on June 18, 2025, as the company expects upcoming AI models to reach 'High' levels of capability in biology as measured by its Preparedness Framework.
OpenAI states that "advanced AI models have the power to rapidly accelerate scientific discovery" and are "already helping scientists identify which new drugs are most likely to succeed in human trials." The company projects future capabilities could "accelerate drug discovery, design better vaccines, create enzymes for sustainable fuels, and uncover new treatments for rare diseases."
However, OpenAI acknowledges dual-use risks, noting that "the same underlying capabilities driving progress, such as reasoning over biological data, predicting chemical reactions, or guiding lab experiments, could also potentially be misused to help people with minimal expertise to recreate biological threats or assist highly skilled actors in creating bioweapons."
The company has implemented multiple safeguards including training models to refuse harmful requests, deploying "robust system-wide monitors across all product surfaces with frontier models to detect risky or suspicious bio-related activity," and conducting end-to-end red teaming with expert teams. OpenAI states its "Board's Safety and Security Committee has reviewed our approach."
OpenAI is "hosting a biodefence summit this July, bringing together a select group of government researchers and NGOs to explore dual-use risks, share progress, and explore how our frontier models can accelerate research." The company has partnered with US CAISI, UK AISI, and Los Alamos National Lab.
OpenAI's biological capabilities target drug discovery, vaccine development, sustainable fuel enzyme creation, and rare disease treatments, with safety protocols including vetted institutional access for biological sciences advancement and partnerships for diagnostics and countermeasures development.
OpenAI positions biological AI capabilities as transformative for scientific discovery while implementing preventive safeguards before reaching High capability thresholds. The company's approach includes government partnerships, expert collaboration, and policy development for vetted institutional access, targeting both breakthrough potential and responsible deployment in biological sciences.