Despite publicly issuing warnings about AI-made bioweapons and advocating for a pause in AI development, Anthropic has been quietly operating an AI-run, robot-operated "wet lab" in the US. This lab aims to leverage its Claude AI to coordinate robotic assistants in performing biological experiments with minimal human intervention, potentially for drug development.

CEO Dario Amodei has previously expressed a strong desire to accelerate medical breakthroughs using AI, citing personal motivations. Eric Kauderer-Abrams, Anthropic's head of life sciences, confirmed the lab's existence to Reuters, stating it is in its early phases and does not diverge from activities seen in most biotech companies.

However, critics like MIT synthetic biologist Kevin Esvelt highlight the significant overlap between pharmaceutical research and bioweapon development, noting that AI models trained for one could easily be repurposed for the other. Esvelt even reported an AI chatbot suggesting a novel bioweapon to him, raising questions about the consistency of Anthropic's public safety stance with its internal research endeavors.

👉 Read the full article on Gizmodo

France, through its national cybersecurity agency ANSSI, has set concrete deadlines for the transition to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), shifting the discussion from theoretical to practical implementation. ANSSI recommends that public and private organizations immediately begin inventorying their cryptographic uses and prepare for system renewal.

Crucially, by 2027, security products seeking qualification in France will need to incorporate PQC, and after 2030, purchasing products without PQC will be deemed unreasonable. This proactive stance is driven by the "capture now, decrypt later" threat, where current encrypted data could be stored and later decrypted by future powerful quantum computers.

This move aligns with global efforts by entities like NIST, Google, Ethereum, and Stellar, which are also accelerating their PQC roadmaps. The transition is complex, requiring "crypto-agility" to change algorithms without rebuilding entire systems, and poses significant challenges for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, which rely on digital signatures potentially vulnerable to quantum attacks.

👉 Read the full article on es.gizmodo.com

(Based on title and general knowledge, as article content was inaccessible)

Manus, a company whose specific domain is not detailed in the inaccessible article content, is reportedly seeking a significant $500 million in a new fundraising round. This funding initiative aims to achieve a substantial valuation of $4 billion for the company.

The news also indicates that Manus is resuming "independent operations," suggesting a strategic shift in its business structure, possibly after a period of being part of a larger entity or operating under a different model. This move highlights strong investor interest and a strategic pivot for Manus in the competitive tech landscape.

👉 Read the full article on TechCrunch