Security Alert: AI Now Surpasses Virologists (And It's in Everyone's Hands)

Virologists have a new colleague in the lab, and it’s not human. A recent study, shared exclusively with TIME, found that AI models like GPT and Claude now outperform PhD virologists in solving complex problems in the lab. It’s a game-changer: While expert virologists scored an average of 22.1% in their stated areas of expertise, OpenAI’s o3 model achieved 43.8% accuracy.