Can AI design new life forms? In 2025, Stanford University Ph.D. student Samuel King offered a preliminary answer when he used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. It is not yet an example of AI-generated life, but that could be next.
In this subscriber-only roundtable, senior AI reporter James O'Donnell interviews King about his work, his recognition as one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35, and new ways of seeing biology. The conversation offers a closer look at how generative models are being applied to genetic design and what that could mean for the field.
The session goes live on October 16, 2026, at 18:30 BST / 1:30pm EDT / 10:30am PDT. It is available only to MIT Technology Review subscribers.
Related coverage from the publication includes reporting that AI-designed viruses are here and already killing bacteria, and a feature on how an AI was asked to design viruses and succeeded.
Source: MIT Technology Review AI · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing