Scientists at Stanford University have used artificial intelligence to design 16 new viruses capable of being reproduced in a laboratory, a breakthrough intended to help combat antibiotic-resistant infections but one that has prompted warnings from biosecurity experts about the risks of the technology. Researchers used the models to generate hundreds of designs for a type of virus known as a bacteriophage, which targets E. coli bacteria. The research marks the first time an entire genome has been successfully designed using AI. The two doctors wrote that efforts to design new viruses capable of causing disease “should not be pursued.” AI creating viruses certainly counts as one of those landmines.