Democratizing access to dual-use technologies
Access to dual-use technologies can become easier because of GPAI model pro- liferation (in particular, open-source or open-weights models). Non-experts can use such dual-use-capable systems at a minimal cost [194, 100]. Improved model capabilities also contribute to dual-use risks posed by malicious actors. For example, an open-source base model for generating high quality sequence data can be modified to generate candidate protein sequences for toxin synthesis [29].
ENTITY
1 - Human
INTENT
3 - Other
TIMING
2 - Post-deployment
Risk ID
mit1167
Domain lineage
4. Malicious Actors & Misuse
4.0 > Malicious use
Mitigation strategy
1. Mandate comprehensive, capability-focused Model Evaluations and Red-Teaming prior to and following the release of dual-use GPAI models, specifically targeting chemical and biological misuse pathways to assess the marginal risk introduced by the model's capabilities (e.g., according to NIST AI 800-1 guidelines). 2. Implement a Standardized, AI-Enabled Screening System for Nucleic Acid Synthesis to serve as a critical choke point defense, capable of detecting novel or AI-generated toxicological and pathogenic sequences that circumvent current list-based screening protocols. 3. Establish and enforce an industry-wide Model Artifact Trust and Traceability Framework for open-weight foundation models to ensure cryptographic signing, auditability of model components and weights, and clear, standardized technical documentation to facilitate post-deployment monitoring and attribution of misuse.