Anthropic's AI Finds CRISPR-Like Enzyme in 21 Hours

Anthropic announced its Bay Area biology lab has discovered a previously unknown enzyme system hidden in bacteriophage DNA, with properties resembling CRISPR. The AI model Claude made the find in just 21 hours using 950 agents and 210 million tokens, though the broader research community must still validate the significance of the discovery. The news raises eyebrows given that Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently warned about AI dangers, including bioterrorism risks. The company insists all physical experiments are conducted by human scientists at biosafety levels 1 and 2, and that fully autonomous lab work is not currently happening, though Amodei has not ruled it out for the future.