As concerns over advanced AI continue to rise, several AI giants have begun to call for a slowdown in development speed. On Tuesday, September 15th, OpenAI declared its support for three bipartisan bills in the US Congress, emphasizing that these bills will help prevent advanced AI models from being misused to accelerate the development of biological weapons and synthetic viruses.
According to Politico, OpenAI spokespersons stated that the company supports the Web of Biological Data Act, the AI-Ready Bio-Data Standards Act, and the Scale Biology Act.
The Web of Biological Data Act and the AI-Ready Bio-Data Standards Act have been introduced in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, aiming to expand the jurisdiction of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in the field of AI and biosafety. They also seek to establish centralized access resources for biological data and ensure that biological data meets “AI-ready” standards.
The Scale Biology Act, formally known as the Standards and Calibration for American Leadership in Engineering Biology Act, introduced in the House of Representatives, will establish a new NIST project responsible for setting clear “measurement standards” for biological data. This is to ensure the comparability and accuracy of research data, as well as to provide guidance for the secure development of biotechnology and prevention of misuse.
OpenAI also supports a key provision in the FRONTIER Act, which requires leading AI companies to introduce independent assessors to evaluate the security of AI models.
These bills are not without basis, as known biosafety risk cases in the industry include scientists at Stanford University and the non-profit research organization Arc Institute who designed 16 new viruses using AI. Anthropic also reported last week that multiple illegal users were utilizing its AI for dangerous pathogen research, which could potentially be used for bioweapons development.
Richard Johnson, who is in charge of national security risk mitigation at OpenAI, expressed concerns to Politico about security and risks, highlighting the importance of equipping defenders with the necessary tools. He pointed out that the biological data and security standards addressed in these bills are crucial for assessing the security of powerful AI models in the future and can help humanity better understand the impact of AI development speed on biosafety.
The newly established National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology (NSCEB) set up by the US Congress similarly supports these bills. The Executive Director of the commission, Caitlin Frazer, believes that advanced AI biological data must be treated as a strategic national resource for the United States.
Furthermore, OpenAI has previously supported the Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act and the Homestake AI Act of 2026, while continuing to advocate for mandatory national AI security requirements.
Over the weekend, Dario Amodei, CEO of Anthropic, urged the public to slow down the pace of AI development in order to prevent AI from potentially causing harm to the world. This call to action has garnered attention from prominent figures such as OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and tech mogul Elon Musk, who also endorse the plea for caution.