China will weaponise biotech as it ascends to dominance, may create AI-powered super-soldiers: U.S. Commission

China's rapid rise in biotechnology poses a national security threat, urging the U.S. to invest heavily in innovation and defense.

As the world enters an age of biotechnology, there is emerging evidence that China is “distorting” biotechnology markets and is quickly ascending to “dominance” in this field, having made this a strategic priority for the last 20 years, according to the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.

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In a report submitted to the U.S. Congress, the Commission warned that China is likely to weaponise the technology and may create genetically enhanced super-soldiers, powered by artificial intelligence, or AI.

“To remain competitive, the U.S. must take swift action in the next three years. Otherwise, we risk falling behind, a setback from which we may never recover,” said the report, which was released earlier this week, and is based on two years of research and consultations with private and public experts.

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It is certain that a biotechnology revolution is coming, the Commission reiterated. “There will be a ChatGPT moment for biotechnology, and if China gets there first, no matter how fast we run, we will never catch up,” it warned.

The world is entering the age of biotechnology, a time when biology is the basis of innovation, the report says in a sober analysis, stressing that every strategic sector — including defence, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing — can be advanced by biotechnology, but also breached by it.