Stanford's Samuel King on AI-Designed Viruses: MIT Tech Review Roundtable

Stanford – October 19, 2026 -- Stanford University PhD student Samuel King used a generative AI model in 2025 to propose genetic blueprints for microscopic viruses, a preliminary answer to whether AI can design new life forms. The work is not yet an example of AI-generated life, though that could be the next step.

MIT Technology Review puts King in a subscriber-only roundtable

MIT Technology Review senior AI reporter James O'Donnell interviewed King, a bioengineering PhD candidate at Stanford University and the Arc Institute. The session was recorded on Friday, October 16, 2026, and is available only to subscribers.

King's virus work earned an Innovators Under 35 selection

MIT Technology Review named King one of its Innovators Under 35. The conversation covers his research, the recognition and what the publication describes as new ways of seeing biology.