Welcome back. The main thing happening today is AI’s creation of 16 new viruses. Live 12–3 BST. Here's your Order of Play.
WHAT’S HAPPENING TODAY
For the first time, AI has designed a working virus from scratch.
Stanford researchers used two generative genome models, Evo 1 and Evo 2, to write entirely new DNA for bacteriophages, the viruses that kill bacteria. The AI generated around 300 candidate genomes. Sixteen turned out to be viable, and several killed E. coli more effectively than the natural virus they were modelled on.
With antibiotic-resistant infections on the rise, engineered viruses could become a new class of treatment and work that used to take scientists weeks now takes AI hours. The team is keeping it open and non-commercial, calling it a proof of concept for putting the technology in as many hands as possible.
The virus they built is a tiny loop of around 5,000 DNA letters. It infects bacteria, not people, the E. coli strain used was harmless, and the model wasn't trained on anything that could infect humans, animals or plants. As one researcher emphasised, this isn't about inventing the next pandemic virus.
There are still real risks. Writing in the same issue of Science, biosecurity experts at Johns Hopkins praised the team's caution but warned that oversight has lagged behind. The question, they argue, is whether society can govern it well enough to reap the benefits without enabling serious harm.
We're getting into all of it on today's show at 12 BST.
YESTERDAY’S MOMENT
Nik joined us to discuss everything from Universal Basic Intelligence, his AGI-era twist on Universal Basic Income, to the shake-up at Google DeepMind.
He believes the company has been stripped of its best talent. "All their top people have left. Who wrote the Transformer paper? They're gone. The Gemini leaders, they're all gone. There's just one person left leading Gemini."
Where does this leave Google DeepMind? Reply and let us know your thoughts.
VIEWER TAKES
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Luke & Ronan
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