White House’s new high-risk life sciences policy calls for monitoring AI dangers

The Trump administration’s new policy prohibiting federal funding for certain high-risk life sciences research and expanding independent review of potentially dangerous studies alludes to the risks of artificial intelligence but does not outright call for banning the use of the emerging capabilities in hazardous biological projects.

The 12-page guidance, which was publicly released on Tuesday, stops federal assistance for domestic dangerous gain-of-function — or DGOF — research and certain international research of concern.

The policy defines DGOF as research that “enhances a property or properties of a biological agent in ways that make it more dangerous” and says the framework defines and extends oversight of “areas of life sciences research posing the greatest risk to our Nation's security.”

President Donald Trump previously signed a May 2025 executive order on biological research security and safety that called, in part, for ending DGOF research. The Department of Health and Human Services said on Tuesday that the policy fulfills Trump’s order. 

Federal officials have said the new guidance looks to limit support for pathogen research that has a substantial risk of harming Americans. 

In an opinion article published in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, National Institutes of Health Director Jay Bhattacharya said the new policy “is based on three principles: that there are categories of research too risky to pursue, such as dangerous gain-of-function research and international research lacking appropriate oversight; that the entirety of the biomedical research enterprise must assess and monitor risks; and that researchers, institutions and funders will be held accountable for evaluating and reporting on high-risk research.”

The Trump administration is looking to enhance scientific research and discovery through its Genesis Mission, which it launched in November 2025 to harness the capabilities of AI and other emerging technologies to drive U.S. innovation. One of the priority areas for the effort includes biotechnology. 

Although AI and other emerging technologies have the ability to enhance biological research, some experts have also warned that the tools also have the theoretical capacity to develop new deadly pathogens. 

Last month, leading tech executives and scientists — including OpenAI CEO and Co-Founder Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO and Co-Founder Dario Amodei — signed an open letter calling for lawmakers to create mandatory screening and recordkeeping guidelines for online orders of synthetic DNA. They warned, in part, 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.”

The Trump administration’s AI Action Plan released in July 2025 similarly warned that AI could be weaponized to “create new pathways for malicious actors to synthesize harmful pathogens and other biomolecules.”

Instead of prohibiting funding for biological scientific research that uses AI, however, the administration’s policy says a new oversight body will review the technology's use and development in the space.

“The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) will convene an interagency group to monitor advancements at the intersection of biological sciences and artificial intelligence, including in silico life sciences research,” the guidance says. 

The policy also looks to create a clear delineation between research it defines as high-risk and other solely tech-based studies.

“When a proposal includes plans to create or modify a biological agent that would meet the definition of DGOF research or potential DGOF research and is the result of in silico research, this policy applies,” the document said. “However, purely computational (i.e., in silico) research that may include development of computational models and software, or may use such means to design novel forms of biological agents, is not prohibited by this policy unless it involves an entity of concern.”

The release of the policy comes as some lawmakers continue to debate the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic, with some claiming that the virus was released following a lab leak in Wuhan, China. The allegation received renewed attention on Wednesday after former Covid czar Anthony Fauci testified during a contentious Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee hearing.