OpenAI, Anthropic, DeepMind, and Microsoft AI Chiefs Jointly Urge Congress to Mandate Synthetic DNA Screening

OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Anthropic’s Dario Amodei, Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis, and Microsoft AI’s Mustafa Suleyman — leaders of four companies locked in fierce competition at the frontier of AI development — have all signed the same open letter. Published on June 4, 2026, and titled “In Support of Mandatory Nucleic Acid Synthesis Screening and Recordkeeping,” the letter calls on the U.S. Congress to legally require screening and recordkeeping for synthetic DNA and RNA orders¹.

The letter was published by the think tank Foundation for American Innovation, and its signatories extend well beyond AI executives to include leaders of synthetic DNA manufacturers, researchers including a Nobel laureate, and former senior government officials¹². It is a rare instance in recent years of fiercely competing companies aligning on a security issue.

AI Is Eroding the “Knowledge Barriers” to Biological Weapons

At the heart of the letter is the recognition that AI progress is changing the structure of biosecurity risk. The letter states that “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”¹².

As a concrete marker of this shift, the letter notes that “AI systems now outperform PhD-level virologists on questions about highly technical laboratory procedures”¹. If expertise is no longer the bottleneck, the letter argues, misuse must be stopped at the point of acquiring physical materials — that is, when synthetic DNA and RNA are ordered.

On why screening is the right tool, the letter explains that “screening is also one of the best understood and least disruptive biosecurity measures available,” adding that “awareness of traceability itself deters misuse”¹.

The Ask: Codify What Is Now Voluntary

Many synthetic DNA and RNA vendors already screen orders voluntarily. What the letter seeks is to turn that voluntary practice into a legal requirement². Specifically, it calls for synthetic DNA companies and manufacturers to be required to check orders against sequences of concern, verify the legitimacy of customers, and keep detailed records of orders and the specifications of materials sold¹².

Addressing Congress, the letter states that “Congress should act this session, and we applaud the legislative efforts currently underway,” calling for a unified national standard¹. On the legislative front, Senators Tom Cotton (R) and Amy Klobuchar (D) introduced the Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act of 2026 in February 2026².

A Coalition Spanning AI, Biotech, and National Security

What stands out about the letter is the breadth of its signatories. Alongside the four AI company chiefs and Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, the signers include executives from the very industry that would be regulated: Emily Leproust of synthetic DNA leader Twist Bioscience and Jason T. Gammack of Ansa Biotechnologies¹². From the research community, Nobel laureate David Baker, MIT’s Kevin Esvelt, and Johns Hopkins’ Tom Inglesby signed, joined by former Secretary of the Navy Richard Danzig and former Secretary of the Army Christine E. Wormuth¹.

As the letter itself puts it, “this is a rare moment of agreement across stakeholders that are often at odds”¹ — those calling for regulation and those who would be regulated are jointly asking for legislation.

A Week of AI Security Developments

The letter landed in a week packed with AI security news in the United States. On June 2, President Trump signed an executive order that includes a voluntary pre-release review framework for frontier AI models (related article), and on June 4, Anthropic proposed preserving a “pause option” for frontier AI development, citing the risks of recursive self-improvement (related article).

Together, these moves suggest a growing shared recognition — across government, AI developers, and the research community — that advancing AI capabilities are beginning to connect to real-world security risks. The full text of the letter and the list of signatories are available on the Foundation for American Innovation’s website¹.