Australians for AI Safety Open Letters

Dear Minister,

Australia has one of the world's most rigorous biosecurity frameworks, and a new gap has emerged that it is well-placed to close. AI and synthetic biology now pose increasing and novel risks that require immediate action from your department.

Synthetic nucleic acids can be used to develop vaccines, improve crops, and advance medical research, but also to engineer or construct pathogens. Australians can order custom nucleic acids from overseas providers. Previously, the key constraint in creating a biological weapon from synthetic nucleic acids was the knowledge required — expertise that was rare and hard to acquire. That has changed.