Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses

Roundtables: A Conversation With the Creator of AI-Designed Viruses

Watch a subscriber-only conversation with one of MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35.

By MIT Technology Review | October 16, 2026

Listen to the session or watch below

[Audio: Roundtables_AIDesignedViruses.m4a]

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.

Watch as senior AI reporter James O'Donnell 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, AI Reporter, MIT Technology Review
• Samuel King, Bioengineering PhD Candidate, Stanford University / Arc Institute

[Video embed: Vimeo]

Available only for MIT Technology Review subscribers.

via MIT Tech Review AI