3<\/p>\n Anthrax under the microscopeCredit: Science Photo Library<\/p>\n But in a recent blog post<\/a>, ChatGPT creator OpenAI <\/a>has warned that as its chatbot becomes more advanced in biology, it could use its intelligence to produce “harmful information”. <\/p>\n That includes, according to OpenAI, the ability to “assist highly skilled actors in creating bioweapons.”<\/p>\n “Physical access to labs and sensitive materials remains a barrier,” the blog post continued. “However those barriers are not absolute.”<\/p>\n Since its initial release in late 2022, ChatGPT <\/a>has only gotten smarter.<\/p>\n Bosses believe upcoming models will reach “‘high’ levels of capability in biology”. <\/p>\n That’s why they say they are taking precautions to prevent ChatGPT from helping to build a bio-threat.<\/p>\n Bioweapons are devices or agents that cause disease, injury or death to humans, livestock and even plants.<\/p>\n “We don\u2019t think it\u2019s acceptable to wait and see whether a bio threat event occurs before deciding on a sufficient level of safeguards,” the company wrote.<\/p>\n In a\u00a0statement to\u00a0Axios<\/a>, OpenAI safety head Johannes Heidecke clarified that future versions of ChatGPT probably won’t be able to manufacture bioweapons on its own. <\/p>\n However, the AI chatbot might still be advanced enough to help amateurs do so.<\/p>\n China\u2019s new cheap AI DeepSeek sparks ALARM as it outperforms West\u2019s models like ChatGPT amid race to superintelligence<\/p>\n “We’re not yet in the world where there’s like novel, completely unknown creation of biothreats that have not existed before,” Heidecke said. <\/p>\n “We are more worried about replicating things that experts already are very familiar with.”<\/p>\n OpenAI said it has worked with experts on biosecurity, bioweapons, and bioterrorism to shape ChatGPT and the information it can give users.<\/p>\n The 2001 anthrax attacks in the US, where letters containing deadly anthrax spores were mailed to several news outlet offices, are the most recent confirmed use of a bioweapon.<\/p>\n To prevent a scenario where a novice can develop a bioweapon with the helping hand of ChatGPT, future models need to be programmed to “near perfection” to both recognise and alert human monitors to any dangers, Heidecke explained.<\/p>\n “This is not something where like 99 percent or even one in 100,000 performance is sufficient,” he said.<\/p>\n Last year, top scientists warned that AI could produce bioweapons that may one day make humans extinct.<\/a><\/p>\n The report they co-authored said governments have a responsibility to stop\u00a0AI being developed with worrying capabilities<\/a>, such that could be used in biological or nuclear warfare.<\/p>\n What is ChatGPT?<\/p>\n ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool created by San Francisco-based startup OpenAI.<\/p>\n After launching in November 2022, the AI chatbot has since exploded in both popularity and its own clever abilities. <\/p>\n ChatGPT<\/a> is a language model that can produce text.<\/p>\n It can converse, generate readable text on demand and produce images and video based on what has been learned from a vast database of digital books, online writings and other media.<\/p>\n ChatGPT essentially works like a written dialogue between the AI system and the person asking it questions. <\/p>\n Although it now has a voice mode that gives it a voice to talk with humans<\/a> like a phone call. <\/p>\n GPT stands for Generative Pre-Trained Transformer and describes the type of model that can create AI-generated content.<\/p>\n If you prompt it, for example ask it to \u201cwrite a short poem about flowers,\u201d it will create a chunk of text based on that request.<\/p>\n ChatGPT<\/a> can also hold conversations and even learn from things you\u2019ve said.<\/p>\n It can handle very complicated prompts and is even being used by businesses to help with work.<\/p>\n But note that it might not always tell you the truth.<\/p>\n \u201cChatGPT is incredibly limited, but good enough at some things to create a misleading impression of greatness,\u201d OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in 2022.<\/p>\n![\"Anthrax](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/nintchdbpict000000198625.jpg\")
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