Press — Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Press

Explore external press coverage featuring Collaborations Pharmaceuticals.

IN THE PIPELINE

Deliberately Optimizing for Harm

This new paper is worrying but not surprising. It describes a recent effort to (mis)use computational drug design software (especially as applied to avoid compounds with predicted toxicity), flipping the signs to have the model generate the most toxic molecules it could come up with.

March 15, 2022

WIRED.IT

Un’intelligenza artificiale ha creato 40mila nuove armi chimiche in sei ore

È quanto emerge da uno studio condotto per esplorare l'uso improprio delle tecnologie nella scoperta di nuovi farmaci. Il computer ha generato nuove molecole più tossiche del più potente agente nervino mai sviluppato

March 18, 2022

THE ECONOMIST

How to tweak drug-design software to create chemical weapons

Scientific papers are normally models of discreet understatement. They are also (or are at least supposed to be) loaded with the information needed for others to replicate their findings.

March 19, 2022

THE VERGE

AI suggested 40,000 new possible chemical weapons in just six hours

It took less than six hours for drug-developing AI to invent 40,000 potentially lethal molecules. Researchers put AI normally used to search for helpful drugs into a kind of “bad actor” mode to show how easily it could be abused at a biological arms control conference.

March 17, 2022

NEW YORK POST

Killer AI invented 40,000 'lethal chemical weapons' in just six hours

Artificial intelligence was used to ‘easily’ invent 40,000 new possible chemical weapons in just six hours.

March 18, 2022

THE REGISTER

AI drug algorithms can be flipped to invent bioweapons

AI algorithms designed to generate therapeutic drugs can be easily repurposed to invent lethal biochemical weapons, a US startup has warned.

March 18, 2022

FINANCIAL TIMES

The dark side of using AI to design drugs

When it comes to using artificial intelligence to design new drugs, the rules are simple: therapeutic activity is rewarded while toxicity is penalised.

March 18, 2022

FINANCIAL TIMES

Will AI turbocharge the hunt for new drugs?

Advocates point to the pandemic as proof of its value in healthcare even as critics dismiss its use in drug discovery as ‘hype’

March 20, 2022

SWISS SRF ECHO DER ZEIT

Tödliches Gift, könnte dank einer Software einfach hergestellt werden

Chemische Waffen sind seit 1997 völkerrechtlich zwar verboten, können aber relativ einfach entwickelt werden. Eine neue Studie zeigt, dass es dazu lediglich eine Software braucht, die in der Pharmaindustrie weit verbreitet ist.

March 21, 2022

THE DAILYMAIL.COM

Artificial Intelligence created 40,000 of new lethal chemical weapon compounds six hours after being given the task by scientists

An artificial intelligence model was able to create 40,000 chemical weapons compounds in just six hours, after being given the task by researchers.

March 21, 2022

AMERICAN ENTERPRISE INSTITUTE

AI is the invention of a new method of invention — and its potential is more amazing than you realize

If artificial intelligence is finally ready to supercharge the US economy — a subject I wrote about last week — then it will need to affect worker productivity in a broad swath of business sectors.

March 21, 2022

THE JAPAN TIMES

Artificial intelligence gets scarier and scarier

Reverse engineering of algorithms is the new danger and it’s a real threat

March 22, 2022

TA MEDIA

Diese künstliche Intelligenz findet chemische Kampfstoffe

Ein für die Suche nach möglichst wenig toxischen Medikamenten entwickeltes KI-System wurde für ein Experiment so umprogrammiert, dass es neue Gifte identifiziert. Die Anregung dazu kam vom Labor Spiez.

March 24, 2022

VOX

When the scientific information is dangerous

A new study shows the risks that can come from research into AI and biology.

March 30, 2022

LA TIMES

Op-Ed: AI’s real potential for lethal toxicity

Last week world leaders gathered to discuss the possibility that Vladimir Putin might use chemical weapons in Ukraine.

March 30, 2022

SCIENTIAS

Kunstmatige-intelligentie-bedenkt-binnen-6-uur-40-000-mogelijke-biowapens

Saillant detail: de onderzoekers maakten hierbij gebruik van kunstmatig intelligente software die in de basis ontwikkeld was om de ontdekking van nieuwe medicijnen te bevorderen.

March 30, 2022

CHEMISTRY WORLD

Drug discovery AI that developed new nerve agents raises difficult questions

Scientific research is generally carried out with the best of intentions – whether it’s to improve health, provide cleaner energy, or increase understanding about the world around us.

March 31, 2022

COSMOS

Heaven and Hell

April 1, 2022

SOUTH SEATTLE EMERALD

Weekend Reads: Discovering New Drugs With AI

This weekend’s read is an essay looking at an often overlooked aspect of the tools that pharmaceutical researchers use to discover potential new drugs.

April 2, 2022

LE TEMPS

Des armes chimiques créées en un tour de main

Lors d’un exercice inédit mené au Laboratoire de Spiez, une entreprise pharmaceutique a utilisé des logiciels en accès libre pour fabriquer non pas des médicaments, mais des substances hautement toxiques.

April 5, 2022

BLOOMBERG

Confronting AI’s Potential to Create New Chemical Weapons

Although the immediate danger seems minimal, efforts are needed to safeguard machine-learning models used in drug discovery.

April 7, 2022

FINANCIAL TIMES

The big tech players are muscling into AI

Both Google and Microsoft have invested heavily in deep learning systems.

April 14, 2022

SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

AI Drug Discovery Systems Might Be Repurposed to Make Chemical Weapons, Researchers Warn

A demonstration with drug design software shows the ease with which toxic molecules can be generated

April 21, 2022

LE SCIENZE

Dai farmaci alle armi chimiche, la doppia via dell'intelligenza artificiale

Gli algoritmi usati per la ricerca di molecole farmacologiche permettono anche di trovare quelle nocive, potenzialmente utilizzabili come nuove armi.

May 19, 2022

CAEN NEWS

A toxic twist on AI for drug design

Chemistry-focused machine learning tools can be misused to design potential chemical weapons

May 10, 2022

WIRED

Widely Available AI Could Have Deadly Consequences

US researchers’ “Dr. Evil project” proves drug discovery AI could be used to create biochemical weapons.

May 17, 2022

DEUTSCHEN APOTHEKER ZEITUNG

40.000 NEUE GIFTSTOFFE Die KI und das Gift – ein Weckruf für die Forschergemeinde

40.000 potenzielle chemische Kampfstoffe, tödlicher als VX, berechnete innerhalb von nur sechs Stunden eine auf Maschinenlernen basierende Pharma-Software, die eigentlich neue Moleküle für Therapieanwendungen finden soll.

May 24, 2022

FORBES

AI Ethics And Legal AI Experts Greatly Alarmed About Dual-Use AI Which Empowers So-Called Doctor Evil Projects, Including Possibly For AI Self-Driving Cars

Sometimes evil can readily emerge even in the midst of ardently professed good.

June 1, 2022

AIR & SPACE FORCES MAGAZINE

Bioweapons Designed by AI: a ‘Very Near-Term Concern,’ Schmidt Says

Artificial intelligence could bring about “biological conflict,” said former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt, who co-chaired the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence.

September 12, 2022

THE OBSERVER/ GUARDIAN

Gene-edited sheep offer hope for treatment of lethal childhood disease

Roslin Institute engineered a flock to help research into the genetics of Batten disease

October 9, 2022

THE OBSERVER/ GUARDIAN

Well, I never: AI is very proficient at designing nerve agents

Researchers for a pharmaceutical company stumbled upon a nightmarish realisation, proving there’s nothing intrinsically good about machine learning

February 11, 2023

THE DAILY MAIL

Artificial intelligence could be misused to design biological weapons, warn scientists after their AI came up with 40,000 potentially toxic drugs in just six hours

Artificial intelligence could be misused to design highly toxic chemical and biological weapons, warn scientists.

February 12, 2023

DER SPIEGEL

KI kann menschliche Verantwortung nicht ersetzen? – Doch!

Der Deutsche Ethikrat romantisiert in seiner Stellungnahme zur künstlichen Intelligenz den Menschen.

March 22, 2023

SWR2 WISSEN

Chemische Kampfstoffe – Von Chlorgas bis Nowitschok

Chemiewaffen sind international verboten, werden aber eingesetzt – vom syrischen Assad-Regime etwa oder dem Kreml.

April 16, 2023

VOX

Can a 50-year-old treaty still keep the world safe from the changing threat of bioweapons?

How geopolitics and technological advances are making this a riskier world for bioweapons.

April 28, 2023

BBC

Los científicos que se espantaron con su propio descubrimiento

En 2020, Sean Ekins, el director ejecutivo de Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, una empresa con sede en Raleigh, Carolina del Norte, EE.UU., recibió una invitación para participar en la Conferencia de Convergencia de Spiez.

April 29, 2023

THE TELEGRAPH

Could AI chatbots be used to develop a bioweapon? You’d be surprised

Research has shown that common AI chatbots could allow rogue actors to bypass hurdles when it comes to researching bioweapon development

July 6, 2023

THE NEW YORK POST

World powers in rush to get killer robots on battlefield in AI arms race, as concerns grow they can turn on humans

A new kind of cold war is here.

July 10, 2023

THE GUARDIAN

Unknown: Killer Robots review – the future of AI will fill you with unholy terror

From headless robodogs to drone pilots who can outclass any human, watching the mesmerising military tech on show here is to watch a terrible beauty being born – one that could annihilate us all

July 10, 2023

THE TELEGRAPH

Are Killer Robots the future of warfare? It sure looks like it

AI's pivotal role in battle is not just chilling but inevitable – Netflix's documentary barely scratches the surface of the threat

July 10, 2023/p>

WRAL TECHWIRE

Netflix documentary to feature Raleigh Pharma company on AI risks

The small team at Raleigh-based startup, Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, spends the bulk of its time looking for safe and effective molecules that can be developed into drugs to treat rare and infectious diseases.

July 12, 2023

RALEIGH MAGAZINE

Revenge of the nerds?

New Netflix docu about the dangers of AI feats Raleigh company

July 10, 2023

DAILY MAIL

'It's the stuff of nightmares': Fans left unable to sleep after watching 'terrifying' killer robots documentary on Netflix

Fans and casual viewers alike are stumbling upon 'Unknown: Killer Robots' the chilling latest installment of Netflix's new documentary series 'Unknown' — and discovering that they can't unknow what they've just learned.

July 12, 2023

BBC

The Blue Flash: How a careless slip led to a fatal accident in the Manhattan Project

One day in Oppenheimer's Manhattan Project, a brief, casual moment of carelessness killed one scientist and severely injured another.

July 19, 2023

TRIANGLE BUSINESS JOURNAL

The rise of AI in healthcare

How artificial intelligence is changing the Greater Triangle’s health care landscape, while presenting new sets of challenges.

September 9, 2023

JERUSALEM POST

Did Benjamin Netanyahu turn AI into a nuclear weapon? - analysis

Netanyahu's central message was clear: Like with any weapon, there is a need to handle the future development of artificial intelligence with due caution.

September 23, 2023

Reports

NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Engaging Scientists to Prevent Harmful Exploitation of Advanced Data Analytics and Biological Data

Artificial intelligence (AI), facial recognition, and other advanced computational and statistical techniques are accelerating advancements in the life sciences and many other fields.

2023

CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE

Artificial Intelligence in the Biological Sciences: Uses, Safety, Security, and Oversight

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a term generally thought of as computerized systems that work and react in ways commonly thought to require intelligence. AI technologies, methodologies, and applications can be used throughout the biological sciences and biology R&D, including in engineering biology

November 22, 2023

Television

CNN

How It Really Happened

May 5, 2024

NETFLIX

Unknown: Killer Robots

What happens when a machine makes life-or-death decisions? This documentary explores the dangers of artificial intelligence in military application.

July 10, 2023

CBS 17

Concern over risk of killer robots as Artificial Intelligence grows

Coverage of our work and the documentary

July 18, 2023

CBS 17

Raleigh company uses AI to search for new drugs to treat rare diseases

A Raleigh company is getting a lot of attention right now for discovering that Artificial Intelligence has the potential to design chemical weapons.

July 20, 2023

CBS 17

Mit KI zur Biowaffe

Es ist eine Horror-Vorstellung: Bio-Waffen, die mithilfe Künstlicher Intelligenz relativ einfach entwickelt werden können. Viele warnen vor den neuen Risiken.

January 11, 2023

Podcasts