Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses
By MIT Technology Review
October 8, 2026
Event Details
Friday, October 16, 2026
Live at 18:30 BST / 1:30pm EDT / 10:30am PDT
Available only for MIT Technology Review subscribers.
Can AI design new life forms?
In 2025, Stanford University PhD student Samuel King offered a preliminary answer when he used a generative AI model to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses. It isn't yet an example of AI-generated life — but that could be next.
Join senior AI reporter James O'Donnell as he interviews King about his work, being named one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35, and new ways of seeing biology.
Speakers
- James O'Donnell, Senior AI Reporter, MIT Technology Review
- Samuel King, Stanford University PhD student and 2025 Innovator Under 35
Subscriber-only event.