Anastasia Lambrou

chem-bio @ CAISI | AIxNatSec 🦠🧬 surveillance | biothreat/pandemic prev, prep & response | personal acct

[Olivia H. Scharfman @OliviaHelenS]

I am excited to share this today –– we have been working on this for a long time.

Nuclear material is regulated. Bioweapons are easier to make, don’t emit traceable radiation, and self-propagate for unprecedented destruction.

This should be common sense, bipartisan national security legislation.

Thank you to all who signed, including @PeterDiamandis, @deanwball, @ATabarrok, @kath_mcmahon, and @kesvelt.

[Alec Stapp @AlecStapp]

CAISI's current operating budget is only $15 million.

CAISI needs at least $84 million annually to fulfill all AI Action Plan taskings related to AI readiness.

In other words, for the cost of a single F-35A joint strike fighter jet, the US government can gain situational awareness on the most strategically important technology of this century.

[Andrew Curran @AndrewCurran_]

Sam Altman, Dario Amodei, Demis Hassabis and many others have signed a letter urging Congress to increase security on orders of synthetic nucleic acids - and the equipment needed to make them - as models continue to become increasingly bio-capable.

[Matt Esche @matthewesche]

At @IFP, we’ve spent the past 3 years thinking about all the different ways the US government & philanthropy fund R&D.

Until now, R&D funders haven’t had a systematic way to match the innovation problem to the right funding tool.

We built THE ATLAS OF INNOVATION to fill that gap.

https://t.co/XZshJ7pr1f

Alongside @UChi_MSA, we’ve boiled down thousands of hours of research into a handful of questions covering how much the R&D funder knows about:
- the problem they want to solve
- the solution it should have
- the team that should build the solution

Why the Atlas matters:

The US government spends close to $200 billion every year on R&D. And after the Anthropic and OpenAI IPOs, there will be hundreds of billions of dollars in new philanthropic giving.

Choosing the correct funding approach to the social problems they’re trying to solve will mean the difference between success and failure.

For example, NSF research grants have helped seed breakthroughs from MRI machines to search engines, but grants aren’t built to deliver the kind of industrial speed and scale that a project like Operation Warp Speed required.

Picking the wrong funding approach can leave programs behind schedule, over budget, or without anything to show for all the money they spent.

How we built the Atlas:

1. We began by creating a matrix of dozens of considerations that a thoughtful policymaker or funder would ideally weigh before deciding how to fund a project.

2. We looked at every major funding approach, from grants to R&D tax credits to advance market commitments, analyzing when they work well and when they fail to meet the mission.

3. We spent months deep in the weeds of contract theory and incentive design, looking at historical examples and the state-of-the-art research in innovation economics.

4. We then worked to turn that research into a tool that time-strapped policymakers and philanthropic funders could rely on at the start of an innovation funding cycle.

5. Three years later, we are launching just that: a new (and visually stunning) website to help funders decide how to best incentivize innovation. And all they have to know… is what they currently know about their innovation goal! The Atlas takes care of the rest.

How to navigate the Atlas:

Answer questions about your goal to find the funding approach aligned with the information you have.

Each funding mechanism has its purpose for particular technologies and specific moments in development.

There shouldn’t be an ARPA for every field, just like we don’t need a prize or AMC for every innovation. The Atlas helps you navigate those tradeoffs.

[MATS Research @MATSprogram]

1/ 🚨 MATS Autumn 2026 applications are now open.

10-week fully-funded fellowship for aspiring AI alignment, security & governance researchers and field-builders.

📍 Berkeley + London
📅 Sep 28 – Dec 4, 2026
💰 $5000/month stipend + $8,000/month compute
Apply by June 7 AoE ↓

[Samuel Hammond 🦉 @hamandcheese]

New composite eval of DeepSeek V4 from CAISI suggests China is falling behind. Notice the relative steepness of their improvement trend.

https://t.co/OmREPBPrGN

[FAR.AI @farairesearch]

https://t.co/CpCOFQPSHr red-teamed DeepSeek’s V4-Pro and almost immediately found three ways in – achieving 98-100% compliance with harmful requests spanning CBRN, terrorism & explosives, and cyberattack content. The fastest of the three jailbreaks took just 15 minutes, with no expertise required. Slowest: only 150 minutes. 1/3

[Alec Stapp @AlecStapp]

Very glad to see government officials at the highest level taking the threat of AI-engineered bioweapons seriously

[White House OSTP 47 @WHOSTP47]

Sector-specific AI adoption is the key to diffusing AI’s benefits to all. If you’re building AI applications for healthcare, finance, and education, join the conversation at @NIST’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation to help identify and overcome barriers to innovation and trusted AI adoption.

https://t.co/Oqn9yj0al9

[nature @Nature]

Imagine if a nasal spray could make you immune not only to the viruses that cause COVID-19 and influenza, but to all respiratory diseases

https://t.co/09gfrXaCR0

[Director Michael Kratsios @mkratsios47]

The future of AI is agentic, and America is leading the way to make it secure and interoperable.

A new AI Agent Standards Initiative is launching this week @NIST to drive industry-led standards and open protocols that build trust and advance innovation. https://t.co/bS5oqvU8iu

[Dwarkesh Patel @dwarkesh_sp]

Seems like a great opportunity for technical talent to come into government and help the USG make sound, technically informed decisions on AI

[Samuel Hammond 🦉 @hamandcheese]

CAISI is hiring for a bunch of exciting new roles, from partnerships to technical experts in AI x bio / chem and more.

They're serious about bringing in strong researchers & engineers and letting them do good work.

Based in DC or SF:

https://t.co/GsooeO3IxK

[CDC @CDCgov]

Another victory for the U.S. in our #1 goal of keeping Americans safe through our global health security leadership!
CDC reached 1 million voluntary participants in our Traveler-Based Genomic Surveillance program, strengthening early detection of emerging threats at U.S. borders and protecting Americans through U.S.-led science and innovation.
The United States stands at the forefront of global health security and will remain the global leader in public health by strengthening capabilities, advancing health innovation, and ensuring rapid response to infectious disease threats. #CrisisToControl https://t.co/zmg1Pb9AnA

[Santi Ruiz @rSanti97]

I'm hiring another editor to join @IFP's editorial team.

I think it'll be hard to fill this role, for a few reasons (no particular order):

[Caleb Watney @calebwatney]

Merry Christmas!

OSTP asked for concrete suggestions to accelerate American science.

Here are our thoughts:
https://t.co/1z5FODS57n

[BNO News @BNOFeed]

Mexico’s September human bird flu case confirmed as H5N2; second reported case of this subtype in the country and globally https://t.co/g2SDyhmYxS

[NEJM @NEJM]

Influenza remains an important cause of illness and death. In a phase 3 trial, a nucleoside-modified mRNA (modRNA) quadrivalent vaccine was found to be superior to a standard quadrivalent vaccine in preventing influenza illness. Full trial results and Research Summary: https://t.co/abDJHVnne3

[Erik Karlsson @E_A_Karlsson]

Cambodia has confirmed its 9th and 10th human cases of H5N1 bird flu this year. 6 of these cases occurred in June alone. Sadly, 6 people have died in 2025. #H5N1 #BirdFlu #Cambodia #Influenza

[Conor Browne @brownecfm]

Superb work from @Blueprintbio here: