DHS report details AI’s potential to amplify biological, chemical threats
Competitors in the 2024 International Best CBRN Warrior Competition at the Army's Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri. A recent government report says that artificial intelligence has the potential to increase access to information needed to design and develop chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. DOD photo by Melissa Buckley
As artificial intelligence and machine learning continue to intersect with sensitive research efforts, the Department of Homeland Security recommended increased communication and guidance to mitigate dangerous outcomes.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to unlock secrets to the development of weapons of mass destruction, particularly chemical and biological threats, to malicious actors, according to a Department of Homeland Security report publicly released last week.
The full report, which was teed up in April with the release of a fact sheet, examines the role of AI in aiding but also thwarting efforts by adversaries to research, develop and use chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear weapons. The report was required under President Joe Biden’s October 2023 executive order on AI.
“The increased proliferation and capabilities of AI tools … may lead to significant changes in the landscape of threats to U.S. national security over time, including by influencing the means, accessibility, or likelihood of a successful CBRN attack,” DHS’s Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office states in the report.
According to the report, “known limitations in existing U.S. biological and chemical security regulations and enforcement, when combined with increased use of AI tools, could increase the likelihood of both intentional and unintentional dangerous research outcomes that pose a risk to public health, economic security, or national security.”
Specifically, the report states that the proliferation of publicly available AI tools could lower the barrier to entry for malicious actors seeking information on the composition, development and delivery of chemical and biological weapons. While access to laboratory facilities is still a hurdle, the report notes that so-called "cloud labs" could allow threat actors to remotely develop components of weapons of mass destruction in the physical world, potentially under the cover of anonymity.
CWMD recommended that the U.S. develop guidance covering the "tactical exclusion and/or protection of sensitive chemical and biological data" from public training materials for large language models, as well as more oversight governing access to remote-controlled lab facilities.
The report also said that specific federal guidance is needed to govern how biological design tools and biological- and chemical-specific foundation models are used. This guidance would ideally include “granular release practices” for source code and specification for the weight calculations used to build a relevant language model.
More generally, the report seeks the development of consensus within U.S. government regulatory agencies on how to manage AI and machine learning technologies, in particular as they intersect with chemical and biological research.
Other findings include incorporating “safe harbor” vulnerability reporting practices into organizational proceedings, practicing internal evaluation and red teaming efforts, cultivating a broader culture of responsibility among expert life science communities and responsibly investigating the benefits AI and machine learning could have in biological, chemical and nuclear contexts.
The report also envisions a role for AI in mitigating existing CBRN risks through threat detection and response, including via disease surveillance, diagnostics, “and many other applications the national security and public health communities have not identified.”
While the findings in this report are not enforceable mandates, DHS said that the contents will help shape future policy and objectives within the CWMD office.
“Moving forward, CWMD will explore how to operationalize the report’s recommendations through existing federal government coordination groups and associated efforts led by the White House,” a DHS spokesperson told Nextgov/FCW. “The Office will integrate AI analysis into established threat and risk assessments as well as into the planning and acquisition that it performs on behalf of federal, state, local, tribal and territorial partners.”