Tencent's chief AI scientist, Yao Shunyu, warned that artificial intelligence will soon be powerful enough to master biology, creating new safety risks and making it "possible to do harm." Speaking at a science symposium in Hong Kong, Yao stated that AI's biological capabilities could be more complex to manage than cybersecurity threats.
The warning comes shortly after Tencent released its new flagship open-source model, Hy4. Yao noted that US companies like Anthropic have a "strong argument" for keeping advanced AI models closed to prevent societal harm. However, he suggested a mix of open and closed models might be the best path forward, as open-source AI can also help bolster defenses.