FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
18 January 2024
MEDIA ALERT: REAGAN INSTITUTE HOSTS PANEL ON BIOSECURITY AND THE WEAPONIZATION OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
Rep. Brad Wenstrup, Mr. Hirsh Jain, Dr. Michelle Rozo, Senator Jim Talent, and the Hon. Ken Wainstein to discuss threats to biosecurity posed by technologies like AI and the state of U.S. biodefense.
On January 25, the Ronald Reagan Institute’s program on the National Security Innovation Base, in collaboration with the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, will host an event titled, “Beyond the SCIF: Biosecurity and the Weaponization of Artificial Intelligence.”
The rapid, global spread of COVID-19 exposed the fragility of pandemic warning systems and response mechanisms in America and around the world. Lack of preparedness for the next biosecurity threat leaves the U.S. vulnerable to adversaries pursuing biological weapons programs, especially with access to advanced capabilities like AI and machine learning.
This panel will discuss threats to our biosecurity posed by technologies like AI, the state of US biodefense, and what concrete actions policymakers can take considering these new vulnerabilities. The conversation will look at both the risk of strategic competitors like the People’s Republic of China, which seeks both AI and biotech dominance, as well as non-state actors that can now harness technology to design lethal pathogens without sophisticated bioengineering expertise.
WHAT: Beyond the SCIF: Biosecurity and the Weaponization of Artificial Intelligence
WHO: Rep. Brad Wenstrup, OH-02, Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and Chair of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic
Mr. Hirsh Jain, Head of Public Health and Senior Vice President, Federal at Palantir Technologies
Dr. Michelle Rozo, Vice Chair of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology and Vice President of Technical Capabilities at IQT
Senator Jim Talent, Former Vice Chairman of the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism
Hon. Ken Wainstein, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security
WHEN: 11:00 AM ET, Thursday, January 25, 2024
WHERE: Ronald Reagan Institute
850 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20006
For in-person attendance, media must RSVP here. Register to watch virtually here.
About the Reagan Foundation and Institute:
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute is the nonprofit organization created by President Reagan himself and specifically charged by him with continuing his legacy and sharing his principles - individual liberty, economic opportunity, global democracy and national pride. The Foundation is a non-partisan organization which sustains the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley, CA, the Reagan Center for Public Affairs, the Presidential Learning Center, The Air Force One Pavilion and the award-winning Discovery Center, as well as the Reagan Institute, which carries out the Foundation’s work in Washington, D.C. The Reagan Library houses over 55 million pages of Gubernatorial, Presidential and personal papers and over 60,000 gifts and artifacts chronicling the lives of Ronald and Nancy Reagan. It also serves as the final resting place of America’s 40th President and his First Lady. www.reaganfoundation.org
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