OpenAI is endorsing a bipartisan group of bills that would expand the federal government’s role in monitoring the intersection of artificial intelligence and biological security, the company said Tuesday. The legislation would give the National Institute of Standards and Technology new responsibilities for developing standards around biological data, biotechnology security and the potential misuse of AI-enabled tools. Another measure would direct the Energy Department to create a centralized system for accessing biological data. Richard Johnson, OpenAI’s national security risk mitigation lead, said the company’s approach must account for both the potential harm and the defensive uses of AI. He compared the issue to cybersecurity, where policymakers and researchers must work to prevent abuse while also equipping defenders with better technology. “ We need to be worried both about the safety and the risk side, but we also need to be looking at the opportunities for getting the tools into the hands of the defenders,” Johnson said. The SCALE Biology Act would create a NIST program to develop measurement standards for biological information and guidance for securely developing biotechnology. The AI-Ready Bio-Data Standards Act would require NIST to design standards for federally funded biological data so it can be used more reliably by AI researchers. The Web of Biological Data Act would establish a centralized federal resource for biological information through the Energy Department. Supporters say shared standards and better-organized data are necessary for testing increasingly capable AI systems and comparing their risks over time. Johnson said lawmakers and researchers need a way to measure what models can do and determine whether technological development is outpacing the ability to understand or control potential misuse. “High-quality, AI-ready biological data must be treated like a strategic national resource,” said Caitlin Frazer, executive director of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, a congressionally created group that supports the measures. The push comes as scientists and technology companies report growing evidence that AI could be used in biological research with dangerous applications. Researchers from Stanford University and the Arc Institute recently said they used AI to design 16 previously unknown viruses. Anthropic also disclosed five cases this year involving foreign actors who allegedly used its models for pathogen research that could contribute to biological weapons development. OpenAI had already backed the Biosecurity Modernization and Innovation Act and the Homestake AI Act. Earlier Tuesday, it also endorsed a separate bipartisan House proposal that would require leading AI companies to use outside evaluators to assess the safety of their models. The prospect of AI-assisted biological threats has also prompted calls within the industry for slower development of frontier systems. Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei cited biosecurity concerns in a recent essay arguing that companies should take a more deliberate approach to advancing the technology. Johnson said the proposed laws would help researchers develop better tools for understanding how fast-moving AI capabilities could affect biological security. The central challenge, he said, is avoiding a situation in which systems advance faster than policymakers and scientists can determine how they might be used.