Here¡¯s a bargain of the most horrifying kind: For less than $100,000, it may now be possible to use artificial intelligence to develop a virus that could kill millions of people.

That¡¯s the conclusion of Jason Matheny, president of the Rand Corp., a think tank that studies security matters and other issues.

¡°It wouldn¡¯t cost more to create a pathogen that¡¯s capable of killing hundreds of millions of people versus a pathogen that¡¯s only capable of killing hundreds of thousands of people,¡± Matheny said.