China May Be Integrating AI into its Bioweapons Program. What Could Go Wrong?

China may be integrating advanced artificial intelligence technology into its illicit bioweapons programs, according to the State Department’s 2025 report on international compliance with weapons agreements.

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“China probably is unable to make complex scientific equipment without Western
innovation. It probably is capable of using publicly available artificial intelligence and
machine learning (AI/ML) tools to advance efforts related to BW applications,” said the report.

A signatory to the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention, China is barred under international law from developing a bioweapons capability.

The annual “Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments” report examines the compliance of key international adversaries, such as China, Iran, and Russia, with various international weapons nonproliferation treaties, including restrictions on nuclear or biological weapon development.

The report could not conclusively determine whether China currently engages in biological weapons development but acknowledged that the Peoples’ Republic has historically possessed bioweapons and that there is no evidence they have destroyed their stockpiles.

China reportedly refused to acknowledge its two historical bioweapon facilities in Beijing and Lingbao. That bioweapons program included military applications for anthrax, cholera, plague, and tularemia.

The report found that the Chinese military is currently researching highly potent and deadly “marine toxins,” compounds produced by some marine life with potential bioweapon applications.

The State Department believes that China requires Western innovation to produce the scientific equipment necessary for bioweapon production, but warned that they are likely capable of using advanced AI in their bioweapons programs.

The report also raised concerns about Iranian, Russian, and North Korean bioweapons programs.

The use of AI in Chinese bioweapons technology could have potentially catastrophic global results. The COVID-19 pandemic was ultimately the result of a lab leak from the Chinese Wuhan Institute of Virology, which had been conducting gain-of-function research to increase the virulence of the virus. That same research, powered by AI, could lead to an even worse global catastrophe.