Jaime Yassif
@jaimeyassif.bsky.social
NTI | bio Vice President, biophysicist. Working to strengthen biotech governance, biosecurity & pandemic preparedness. Formerly US Health & Human Services and Dept of Defense, Federation of American Scientists, Chatham House, Open Phil, UC Berkeley
Applications are open for the 2025 NTI | bio Next Generation Biosecurity Delegation. This is a great opportunity to gain experience with international biosecurity engagement & meet thought leaders and policy makers in the field. You can learn more and apply here: tinyurl.com/4bene94r
August 14, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Applications are open for the 2025 NTI | bio Next Generation Biosecurity Delegation. This is a great opportunity to gain experience with international biosecurity engagement & meet thought leaders and policy makers in the field. You can learn more and apply here: tinyurl.com/4bene94r
US Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy’s announcement that the government will cancel or otherwise alter up to $500M in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines, the technology used to respond to COVID-19, is a grave mistake. Check out our statement here: www.nti.org/news/hhs-can...
August 6, 2025 at 5:32 PM
US Health and Human Services Secretary Kennedy’s announcement that the government will cancel or otherwise alter up to $500M in contracts to develop mRNA vaccines, the technology used to respond to COVID-19, is a grave mistake. Check out our statement here: www.nti.org/news/hhs-can...
OpenAI has classified its new ChatGPT Agent model as having a “High capability in the biological domain." Check out this new blog post by Nikki Teran outlining OpenAI's proactive biosecurity approach to safeguard their new model against misuse: www.nti.org/risky-busine...
ChatGPT Agent Setting Industry Leading Example for Biosecurity Safeguards
OpenAI's latest release, ChatGPT Agent, represents a significant leap forward in artificial intelligence capabilities—and with it comes a thoughtful, proactive approach to managing the biosecurity ris...
www.nti.org
August 1, 2025 at 4:59 PM
OpenAI has classified its new ChatGPT Agent model as having a “High capability in the biological domain." Check out this new blog post by Nikki Teran outlining OpenAI's proactive biosecurity approach to safeguard their new model against misuse: www.nti.org/risky-busine...
The new Executive Order on "Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research" suggests some promising actions to protect moddern bioscience and biotech against misuse, but it also threatens crucial research that protects Americans from biological threats.
www.nti.org/news/executi...
www.nti.org/news/executi...
Executive Order on Safety and Security in Biological Research Holds Promise But Leaves Crucial Gaps
Executive Order 14292 on “Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research" suggests some promising actions toward protecting modern bioscience and biotechnology against misuse. However, the o...
www.nti.org
May 9, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The new Executive Order on "Improving the Safety and Security of Biological Research" suggests some promising actions to protect moddern bioscience and biotech against misuse, but it also threatens crucial research that protects Americans from biological threats.
www.nti.org/news/executi...
www.nti.org/news/executi...
NTI applauds today’s announcement that the International Negotiating Body of the WHO has reached a deal on the language of the Pandemic Accord. Pandemics pose a global threat & this proposed agreement is proof the world can unify to reduce the most catastrophic risks.
www.nti.org/news/nti-sta...
www.nti.org/news/nti-sta...
NTI Statement in Support of WHO Pandemic Accord
NTI applauds today’s announcement that the International Negotiating Body of the World Health Organization (WHO) has reached a deal on the language of the Pandemic Accord. Pandemics continue to pose a...
www.nti.org
April 16, 2025 at 11:31 PM
NTI applauds today’s announcement that the International Negotiating Body of the WHO has reached a deal on the language of the Pandemic Accord. Pandemics pose a global threat & this proposed agreement is proof the world can unify to reduce the most catastrophic risks.
www.nti.org/news/nti-sta...
www.nti.org/news/nti-sta...
Great opportunity to join the NTI | bio team. Come work with us! www.nti.org/job-listing/...
Program Associate/Program Officer, Global Biological Policy and Programs (NTI | bio)
www.nti.org
April 11, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Great opportunity to join the NTI | bio team. Come work with us! www.nti.org/job-listing/...
"On this World Health Day 2025 as US domestic & global health policies undergo a realignment the world must recommit to address both the urgent and the underlying health challenges that shape our lives." New blog post by NTI's Lauren Maynor, Sara Kaufman & David Stiefel.
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
A Call to Action for Global Health Security
Each day brings alarming headlines—H5N1, measles, tuberculosis—but the quieter underlying issues of public health security rarely break through the noise. On this World Health Day 2025, as U.S. domest...
www.nti.org
April 7, 2025 at 2:49 PM
"On this World Health Day 2025 as US domestic & global health policies undergo a realignment the world must recommit to address both the urgent and the underlying health challenges that shape our lives." New blog post by NTI's Lauren Maynor, Sara Kaufman & David Stiefel.
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
Great new piece in Science Magazine by Richard Stone about the Biological Weapons Convention at its 50-year anniversary, and the need to modernize it to meet 21st century challenges.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
50-year-old bioweapons treaty is dangerously flawed, researchers say
Without enforcement mechanisms, the Biological Weapons Convention risks leaving the world “completely unprepared”
www.science.org
April 4, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Great new piece in Science Magazine by Richard Stone about the Biological Weapons Convention at its 50-year anniversary, and the need to modernize it to meet 21st century challenges.
www.science.org/content/arti...
www.science.org/content/arti...
Excellent post by Greg Butchello outlining how NTI | bio defines biosecurity. Since its emergence, the term “biosecurity” has had a variety of meanings. We define biosecurity as: policies and practices that protect against the deliberate misuse of biology to cause harm."
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
What is Biosecurity — Explained
Since the emergence of the term in the late 20th century, “biosecurity” has had a wide variety of meanings. While biosecurity is fundamental to the work of NTI | bio, we have not explicitly laid out o...
www.nti.org
March 13, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Excellent post by Greg Butchello outlining how NTI | bio defines biosecurity. Since its emergence, the term “biosecurity” has had a variety of meanings. We define biosecurity as: policies and practices that protect against the deliberate misuse of biology to cause harm."
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
www.nti.org/risky-busine...
I had a great conversation with A'ndre Gonawela at the Burn Bag podcast about vital steps that we need to take to bolster biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. You can check it out here 👇 burnbag.buzzsprout.com/1225250/epis...
Biosecurity: Bird Flu, Bioweapons, Artificial Intelligence, and Other Bio-Risks with Dr. Jaime Yassif from the Nuclear Threat Initiative - The Burn Bag Podcast
In this episode, A’ndre Gonawela sits down with Dr. Jaime Yassif, Vice President of Global Biological Policy and Programs at NTI | bio, to explore the evolving landscape of biosecurity and pandemic pr...
burnbag.buzzsprout.com
March 11, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I had a great conversation with A'ndre Gonawela at the Burn Bag podcast about vital steps that we need to take to bolster biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. You can check it out here 👇 burnbag.buzzsprout.com/1225250/epis...
Yesterday NTI and RAND co-hosted an event at the Paris AI Action Summit on AI Safety Institutes and AIxBio governance--in conversation with biosecurity experts & AI model developers. We had productive discussions among an impressive international group of experts ...
February 12, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Yesterday NTI and RAND co-hosted an event at the Paris AI Action Summit on AI Safety Institutes and AIxBio governance--in conversation with biosecurity experts & AI model developers. We had productive discussions among an impressive international group of experts ...
The U.S. must continue to lead on AI safety & I'm optimistic this can be done while balancing competitiveness considerations. The Trump Administration has an opportunity to strike the right balance between AI safety and advancing innovation in the United States. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
DeepSeek Tests Meta’s Ambition for US Open-Source AI Dominance
Mark Zuckerberg has long championed Meta Platforms Inc.’s open-source approach to artificial intelligence software — which lets other companies access and build on top of its technology — saying that ...
www.bloomberg.com
January 29, 2025 at 6:18 PM
The U.S. must continue to lead on AI safety & I'm optimistic this can be done while balancing competitiveness considerations. The Trump Administration has an opportunity to strike the right balance between AI safety and advancing innovation in the United States. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
In one of the first acts of his second administration, President Trump has ordered U.S. withdrawal from WHO, again. Protecting Americans does not happen by turning our back on the world’s largest public health organization; it happens by keeping our seat at the table and negotiating for change.
January 23, 2025 at 1:10 AM
In one of the first acts of his second administration, President Trump has ordered U.S. withdrawal from WHO, again. Protecting Americans does not happen by turning our back on the world’s largest public health organization; it happens by keeping our seat at the table and negotiating for change.
NTI|bio is working to safeguard capabilities at the convergence of AI & the life sciences. We've established a global forum to discuss governance approaches &practical tools to safeguard AIxBio capabilities + we're exploring novel technical guardrails for biodesign tools www.nti.org/about/progra...
Reducing Risks at the Convergence of Artificial Intelligence and the Life Sciences
Strengthening AI governance to safeguard AI-enabled tools for engineering living systems from misuse.
www.nti.org
January 16, 2025 at 10:32 PM
NTI|bio is working to safeguard capabilities at the convergence of AI & the life sciences. We've established a global forum to discuss governance approaches &practical tools to safeguard AIxBio capabilities + we're exploring novel technical guardrails for biodesign tools www.nti.org/about/progra...
OpenAI has announced their o3 and o3-mini simulated reasoning models, which for the first time match human levels on the ARC Artificial General Intelligence benchmark. This is a major leap forward in AGI-relevant performance and a very big deal. arstechnica.com/information-...
OpenAI announces o3 and o3-mini, its next simulated reasoning models
o3 matches human levels on ARC-AGI benchmark, and o3-mini exceeds o1 at some tasks.
arstechnica.com
December 21, 2024 at 12:44 AM
OpenAI has announced their o3 and o3-mini simulated reasoning models, which for the first time match human levels on the ARC Artificial General Intelligence benchmark. This is a major leap forward in AGI-relevant performance and a very big deal. arstechnica.com/information-...
Eva Siegmann on the need to establish more effective guardrails for AIxbio capabilities to prevent AI-enabled bioterrorism. www.nti.org/atomic-pulse...
How to prevent AI-enabled bioterrorism
AI biodesign tools offer many beneficial uses, from engineered crops to vaccine development, but tools that can engineer biological agents could also be misused to cause harm.
www.nti.org
December 20, 2024 at 11:20 AM
Eva Siegmann on the need to establish more effective guardrails for AIxbio capabilities to prevent AI-enabled bioterrorism. www.nti.org/atomic-pulse...
Last week NTI | bio participated in Biological Weapons Convention working group discussions, organizing two side events that proposed new solutions to prevent bioweapons development & use by states.
www.nti.org/news/nti-bio...
www.nti.org/news/nti-bio...
NTI | bio Proposes New Solutions to Prevent Bioweapons Development and Use
During the fifth session of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) Working Group meetings, NTI | bio presented solutions that could effectively reduce the risk of bioweapons development and use by st...
www.nti.org
December 19, 2024 at 11:13 PM
Last week NTI | bio participated in Biological Weapons Convention working group discussions, organizing two side events that proposed new solutions to prevent bioweapons development & use by states.
www.nti.org/news/nti-bio...
www.nti.org/news/nti-bio...
Yesterday we launched our new essay collection on disincentivizing biological weapons. Our side event to launch this work took place on the margins of Biological Weapons Convention meetings in Geneva...
www.nti.org/analysis/art...
www.nti.org/analysis/art...
Disincentivizing Bioweapons: Theory and Policy Approaches
This essay collection is designed to encourage the exploration and identification of potential solutions to disincentivize states from developing or using biological weapons. The goal of this collecti...
www.nti.org
December 12, 2024 at 8:49 PM
Yesterday we launched our new essay collection on disincentivizing biological weapons. Our side event to launch this work took place on the margins of Biological Weapons Convention meetings in Geneva...
www.nti.org/analysis/art...
www.nti.org/analysis/art...
Sarah Bates is a salmon boat captain. October is usually a busy time on the waterfront, but now, “it’s kind of a ghost town,” she said. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/c...
What a Marine Heat Wave Reveals About Our Warming Oceans
An extreme heat wave off California’s coast seemed like an anomaly 10 years ago. But as the ocean warms, the catastrophe may be a glimpse of the future.
www.nytimes.com
December 1, 2024 at 1:55 PM
Sarah Bates is a salmon boat captain. October is usually a busy time on the waterfront, but now, “it’s kind of a ghost town,” she said. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/01/c...
As H5N1 continues to spread among farm animals, we're playing a deadly game of Russian roulette with pandemic risk. H5N1 in pigs creates new risks of mixing among flu variants, which could lead to the emergence of an H5N1 strain capable of human to human transmission. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/o...
Opinion | A Bird Flu Pandemic Would Be One of the Most Foreseeable Catastrophes in History
It’s not too late for President Biden to give the U.S. a life-changing gift.
www.nytimes.com
November 29, 2024 at 3:22 PM
As H5N1 continues to spread among farm animals, we're playing a deadly game of Russian roulette with pandemic risk. H5N1 in pigs creates new risks of mixing among flu variants, which could lead to the emergence of an H5N1 strain capable of human to human transmission. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/29/o...
NTI | bio is continuing to advance global discussions to safeguard AIxBio capabilities. This fall, we convened two successful technical working groups on developing guardrails for biodesign tools & on horizon scanning, risk assessment, and AI model evaluations. www.nti.org/atomic-pulse...
NTI | bio Advances International Dialogue on AI Biosecurity Through Expert Working Groups
NTI | bio convened two technical working groups this fall to address critical challenges at the intersection of AI and the life sciences, bringing together more than 50 international experts from majo...
www.nti.org
November 26, 2024 at 2:36 PM
NTI | bio is continuing to advance global discussions to safeguard AIxBio capabilities. This fall, we convened two successful technical working groups on developing guardrails for biodesign tools & on horizon scanning, risk assessment, and AI model evaluations. www.nti.org/atomic-pulse...
Gabby Essix shares her perspective on the Biological Weapons Convention at 50 and the path forward to build a safer future. www.nti.org/atomic-pulse...
BWC at 50: Taking Bold Steps to Secure the Future
2025 marks 50 years of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC). It faces significant challenges and there is an urgent need to modernize the BWC, ensuring it keeps pace with scientific developments an...
www.nti.org
November 25, 2024 at 4:40 PM
Gabby Essix shares her perspective on the Biological Weapons Convention at 50 and the path forward to build a safer future. www.nti.org/atomic-pulse...
Check out our new report on guardrails for AI biodesign tools. As these tools become more capable of designing novel biological systems—with tremendous potential benefits—we should also recognize that BDTs could be exploited. NTI is working to develop solutions. www.nti.org/news/nti-bio...
NTI | bio Advances Responsible AI Biodesign Tool Development and Use
www.nti.org
November 19, 2024 at 1:21 PM
Check out our new report on guardrails for AI biodesign tools. As these tools become more capable of designing novel biological systems—with tremendous potential benefits—we should also recognize that BDTs could be exploited. NTI is working to develop solutions. www.nti.org/news/nti-bio...
The U.S. needs much more robust monitoring of H5N1 flu so we can rapidly detect and contain deadly infectious disease threats. "Failure to control H5N1 among American livestock could have global consequences, and this demands urgent attention." www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/o...
Opinion | The U.S. Response to Bird Flu is Not Reassuring the World
The U.S. needs to reassure the world it has the outbreak under control.
www.nytimes.com
November 19, 2024 at 1:08 PM
The U.S. needs much more robust monitoring of H5N1 flu so we can rapidly detect and contain deadly infectious disease threats. "Failure to control H5N1 among American livestock could have global consequences, and this demands urgent attention." www.nytimes.com/2024/11/19/o...
This critique of media involvement in shaping our political discourse has a lot of explanatory power. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/o...
Opinion | Jon Stewart Looks Back With Sanity and/or Fear
The comedian and co-host of “The Daily Show” reflects on how American politics has changed over the last two decades.
www.nytimes.com
November 15, 2024 at 5:35 PM
This critique of media involvement in shaping our political discourse has a lot of explanatory power. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/o...