# The Cold War trick that could save us from AI bioweapons > Scientists once built a back channel across the Iron Curtain, and the AI-biotech era needs one again. - Title: The Cold War trick that could save us from AI bioweapons - Summary: Scientists once built a back channel across the Iron Curtain, and the AI-biotech era needs one again. Build the scientific back channels now, so that when… - Keywords: biosecurity, science diplomacy, us-china, arms control, Cold, War, trick, save, bioweapons, Foreign Policy - Source: Foreign Policy — https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/10/artificial-intelligence-biotechnology-science-diplomacy-united-states-china-geopolitical-rivalry - Author: Sophie Berman, Yelena Biberman - Read time: 3 min - Topics: ai, biosecurity, science diplomacy, us-china, arms control ## A fishing village, 1957 Twenty-two scientists from 10 countries met in Pugwash, Nova Scotia. Several had built the first atomic weapons, and now felt they had lost control of what they made. ## Russell and Einstein called it The founders answered a call from Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein to size up the dangers of weapons of mass destruction. > appraise the perils ## Seventy years of talking The Pugwash Conferences ran more than 400 symposia and workshops, pulling in thousands of scientists worldwide. The movement won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1995. ## The new convergence In 2026, AI plus biotechnology poses a threat on the same scale. Industry leaders warned in June that AI could erode the knowledge barriers that long kept biological warfare out of reach. ## No country can do this alone Biosecurity needs international cooperation, but multilateral efforts have been stalled and defunded. With rivalry blocking the official routes, the alternative starts with scientists. ## Build the answer early Pugwash scientists worked out the technical groundwork for arms control before politics allowed it, so the knowledge and relationships were ready when governments finally moved. ## Governance is losing the race Technology now changes faster than rules can be written. Track-two engagement, meaning unofficial expert dialogue, is one of the few safeguards that can keep pace. ## Xi's symphony, and the fine print At July's World AI Conference, Xi Jinping called AI development a "symphony of global cooperation," then attacked U.S. tech restrictions and pushed China's Digital Silk Road. > symphony of global cooperation ## Pick a side, says Washington A State Department letter seen by the New York Times shows the U.S. preparing to press dozens of countries to choose between American and Chinese AI ecosystems. ## They called themselves Pugwashites Participants from some 50 national groups, across the Iron Curtain, stopped seeing each other as adversaries. Shared methods gave them a shared identity. > they use the same concepts and the same methods; they work toward common intellectual goals ## From a fishing village to a treaty Khrushchev cited a British proposal from the first Pugwash conference in letters to Kennedy. Parts of it shaped the Soviet position behind the 1963 Limited Test Ban Treaty. ## The convention that can't enforce The Biological Weapons Convention leans on the U.N. Security Council to investigate violations, which leaves enforcement exposed to gridlock and U.S. disengagement. ## What dialogue can actually do Scientific talks will not clear political blockages. They keep the expertise, relationships, and trust alive so real proposals exist the moment governments want them. ## The Anthropic suspension In June, the U.S. ordered two Anthropic models suspended for all foreign nationals over a possible security bypass. Critics said it handed Chinese open-source developers time to catch up. ## Restraint without self-harm A shared forum could turn that kind of breach into coordinated restraint, so one company does not absorb the whole cost of doing the safe thing alone. ## Somebody has to pay Cyrus Eaton quietly financed and hosted the first Pugwash meeting at his Nova Scotia home. The AI and biotech industries should fund today's equivalent. ## Warnings without commitments Sam Altman and Dario Amodei have raised alarms about AI risk but have not backed restrictions to match. Outsiders like Tim Cook or Pierre Omidyar may be better placed to convene. ## Private money, public risk Governments funded and controlled nuclear research. Companies drive AI and biotech, so funding could compromise a forum's independence. Periodic roundtables could include industry without handing it the room. ## The cautionary half Sen. Thomas Dodd branded the meetings "communist conclaves" during the Red Scare, and Johnson later cut U.S. ties. Soviet delegates reported to the KGB. Influence vanished when officials did. > communist conclaves ## Too regional, too policy-heavy Brookings-Tsinghua and Johns Hopkins dialogues exist but stay bilateral. AI-enabled bioweapons are globally accessible, so the table needs far wider geography and real scientists on it. ## Key takeaway Build the scientific back channels now, so that when governments are finally ready to act, the workable proposals already exist.