The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in collaboration with the National Academy of Medicine, will convene an ad hoc committee to examine how to strengthen preparedness and mitigation strategies for anticipating and countering novel biological threat agents enabled by artificial intelligence (AI) models and other emerging technologies. Building on prior National Academies work at the intersection of AI and biology, the committee will focus on improving medical countermeasure (MCM) research and development. The committee will:

• Characterize current and emerging AI models and biotechnologies and assess plausible future trends that may reshape the biosecurity risk landscape or challenge existing MCM development pathways.
• Identify opportunities to responsibly leverage AI models (e.g., AI-enabled biological tools, large language models, knowledge-guided machine learning) to strengthen and streamline MCM design and development, including rapidly adaptable approaches for both natural and intentional, AI-enabled biological threats.
• Recommend actionable strategies to manage and mitigate biosecurity risks associated with AI models, biological data, and MCM development workflows, including guidance for developers on preventing misuse and circumventing guardrails.
• Evaluate challenges associated with multi-use technologies, including roles, responsibilities, and gaps in oversight, and assess how governance structures can better support responsible science and innovation across the MCM ecosystem.

The committee will produce a report with actionable scientific, policy, and operational recommendations for MCM R&D funders and developers. One or more workshops will inform the study, with proceedings of a workshop-in brief.