OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman has warned that the risk of terrorist groups using artificial intelligence to develop novel pathogens is no longer a theoretical concern, and has called on policymakers to act immediately to prepare for a world shaped by advanced AI systems.
Speaking in an interview with Axios, Altman said current AI models already perform coding and research tasks once handled by entire teams, and that next-generation systems will accelerate scientific discovery while enabling individuals to accomplish work previously requiring large groups.
The warnings extend beyond biology.
Altman said AI could also lower the barriers to more powerful cyberattacks, and urged coordinated defences among governments, technology companies and security organisations.
"It's incredibly important that people building AI are high-integrity, trustworthy people," he said.
The cybersecurity threat is already materialising across industries, including the crypto sector.
Charles Guillemet, chief technology officer at Ledger, the hardware wallet maker, told CoinDesk that AI tools are reducing both the cost and technical skill required to identify and exploit software vulnerabilities, enabling tasks that once took months to be completed in seconds with the right prompts.
The crypto industry lost more than $1.4 billion in assets to theft and attacks last year, according to the report.
Altman's broader argument is that the pace of AI development has moved faster than the regulatory and social frameworks designed to govern it, and that the window for proactive policymaking is closing.
He said the world is not far from a point where highly capable open-source AI models with advanced biological knowledge become widely available, a development he said demands resilience at a societal level rather than relying solely on the safety practices of AI developers.
On the question of government control of AI, Altman pushed back against nationalisation, arguing instead for American leadership through the private sector.
Related reading
- Nvidia says the open versus proprietary AI debate is the wrong argument
- From Vera Rubins, Blackwell, Nemotron, NemoClaw, to Isaac and Cosmos - here's a whistlestop guide to NVIDIA's…
- Anthropic secures multi-gigawatt Google and Broadcom chip deal as annual revenue run rate hits $30bn
"The biggest case against nationalisation would be that we need the U.S. to succeed at building superintelligence in a way that is aligned with the democratic values of the United States before somebody else does," he said.
The comments position Altman as both a proponent of rapid AI development and an advocate for the guardrails he argues must accompany it, a tension that has defined OpenAI's public stance as its models move deeper into economic life.
The recap
- Sam Altman urges U.S. action on advanced artificial intelligence risks.
- Crypto suffered more than $1.4 billion in assets stolen last year.
- Altman calls for urgent coordination across government and tech firms.
