The UK government is considering tighter regulations around use of artificial intelligence (AI) in gene synthesis as concerns grow around the technology’s misuse to create bio-weapons, as per an exclusive report by Bloomberg.

According to the report, UK Officials are in talks to enact stricter laws related to AI use in gene synthesis that includes introducing a new legislation on biological weapons along with a mechanism for AI companies to red-flag ‘high-concern’ requests from bad actors.

The British government fears terrorists or bad actors might utilize AI to create mass biological weapons.

The British policymakers are also considering intervention in partnerships between AI firms and research institutes possessing huge sets of genome data.

The concerns related to misuse of AI in creating biological weapons by terrorists or bad actors have increased globally after recent reports of AI models able to generate entirely new bacteriophage genomes which functioned in laboratory experiments as researchers used AI to create 16 new viruses through genome sequencing.

The discovery led to senator Bernie Sanders calling for a global pause on frontier AI research by top companies, urging the CEOs to “stop making machines human cannot control.”

Besides in June 2026, AI leaders (including from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, Anthropic) and others signed an open letter calling for mandatory synthetic DNA/RNA screening and recordkeeping. Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei has publicly expressed his concerns over misuse of AI in creating biological weapons.

The US and UK have adopted different methods for regulating AI, but continue to work together when it comes to AI safety. The UK has made use of voluntary guidance so far, including instructions to screen orders for synthetic DNA. The AI Security Institute was set up in the UK in 2023 to understand the dangers associated with advanced forms of AI.

Also Read: AI CEOs Urge US Congress to Mandate DNA Synthesis Screening