AI, Biotech CEOs and Security Experts Urge Congress to Mandate Screening of Synthetic DNA Sales

Dario Amodei, Sam Altman and Mustafa Suleyman signed an open letter to Congress asking lawmakers to require companies that sell synthetic DNA and RNA to screen orders and customers. The three chief executives of Anthropic, OpenAI and Microsoft AI, respectively, joined dozens of life-sciences and national-security experts in the request.

The letter was organized by the Foundation for American Innovation and the Institute for Progress.

Twist Bioscience and Ansa Biotechnologies, two companies that manufacture the synthetic materials, also signed. “AI systems are improving rapidly, and alongside incredible benefits to science and medicine, there is a real possibility that the knowledge barriers which have historically prevented bad actors from obtaining biological weapons will meaningfully erode,” the letter stated.

Current voluntary screening by sellers would become mandatory under the proposal.

The letter further asks Congress to require those companies to keep records of orders and the exact specifications of materials sold. A Stanford University study published earlier in 2026 found that generative AI tools reached 53 percent of the world’s population in three years. The letter’s authors cited the study to illustrate how quickly AI capabilities are spreading.

02 percent of all historical terrorist attacks, according to a study in The American Journal of Emergency Medicine. Inhaled anthrax carries a mortality rate of nearly 100 percent without treatment.

U.S. Senators and several news outlets. The attacks prompted one of the largest FBI investigations in history. The Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989 already makes it illegal to develop or possess biological agents for use as a weapon, with penalties of up to life in prison.