U.S. Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, is sounding the alarm about BGI, a giant China-based genomics company. BGI “processes genetic data for hospitals, pharmaceutical firms and researchers across dozens of countries,” reports CNBC (December 6, 2025).
“If Huawei was big, BGI will be even bigger,” Warner said….
BGI is one of the largest genomics companies in the world. It operates DNA sequencing laboratories in China and abroad. It processes genetic data for hospitals, pharmaceutical firms and researchers across dozens of countries, according to a recent report by the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology….
U.S. intelligence officials believe that global footprint gives BGI access to one the largest collections of genetic data on Earth. Lawmakers have warned that genetic data is not just medical information. At scale, it becomes a strategic asset spurring a “DNA arms race,” according to a Washington Post report. DNA profiles can reveal ancestry, physical traits, disease risk, and family relationships, and when linked with artificial intelligence, the data can also be used for surveillance, tracking and long-term biological research tied to national security, according to the Washington Post’s reporting.
At the CNBC event this week, Warner continued to press for more focus on BGI. “They are hoovering up DNA data,” Warner said. “This level of experimentation on humans and intellectual property theft, we all should be concerned about it.”
Congressional investigators have previously warned that BGI maintains close ties to the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese military, according to a report from the House Select Committee on the CCP. They argue that China makes little distinction between commercial data and state security needs.
Pending legislation called the BIOSECURE Act, now reportedly incorporated into the National Defense Authorization Act, would limit BGI’s ability to operate in the United States.
BGI itself has called the BIOSECURE bill “a false flag targeting companies under the premise of national security. We strictly follow rules and laws, and we have no access to Americans’ personal data in any of our work.” The firm here sounds just like the Chinese Communist Party, which chronically disparages the legitimate national security concerns of other countries while deploying an infinitely elastic concept of national security to rationalize its own tyranny and aggression.
BGI and the CCP also apparently expect us to believe that genetic data does not count as personal data or that they scrupulously dispose of or anonymize all such data and, scout’s honor, would never make maleficent use of it.
Also see:
Goodwin Law: BIOSECURE Act Included in Final Draft NDAA Compromise Text (December 7, 2025)
“The compromise NDAA retains the core BIOSECURE framework: federal agencies, grant recipients, and loan recipients will be restricted from using equipment or services from identified ‘biotechnology companies of concern.’ ”
