AlphaFold 3: AI's $100B Drug Discovery Gamechanger
09 May 2024: DeepMind's AI predicts molecular interactions, U.S. curbs China's AI access, Saudi's $100B fund prioritises U.S., and Meta expands generative AI ads
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Latest in AI,
1. 1-Minute Roundup
2. Headlines
3. AI Investment Deals
4. Other AI News
1-Minute Roundup
Headlines:
AlphaFold 3 predicts molecular interactions, potentially accelerating AI-designed drug development.
U.S. plans to restrict advanced AI model exports to countries like China and Russia.
AI Investment Deals:
OptMyCare raises $3M, Wayve secures $1.05B, RadAI gets $50M, and Atlan raises $105M in funding rounds.
MavarickAI raises €1.3M, EspressoAI secures $11M, Daloopa raises $18M, Paxafe gets $9M, and Numeric raises $10M.
Panax secures $15M, Pearl and Simplifai receive investments, XTEND raises $40M, and DwellFi gets $3M.
Reveal acquires Onna, Samsung Medison acquires Sonio for $92.7M, and DeepMind alums raise $200M for Holistic AI.
Others:
Saudi's $100B AI fund, Alat, prioritises U.S. partnerships and may divest from China if requested.
Upstart subpoenaed by SEC regarding AI models and loan disclosures.
DOJ intensifies AI competition scrutiny and plans industry workshops.
Amazon launches Bedrock Studio for simplified generative AI app development.
Meta expands generative AI tools for advertisers, enabling complete image creation.
Microsoft invests $3.3B in Wisconsin AI data centre and training.
Headlines
According to CEO Demis Hassabis, DeepMind's AlphaFold 3 predicts molecular interactions with higher accuracy, potentially accelerating AI-designed drug development and creating a multi-billion dollar business for Isomorphic Labs.
Why it Matters: AlphaFold 3's ability to accurately predict molecular interactions could significantly accelerate the development of AI-designed drugs, potentially transforming the pharmaceutical industry and benefiting society.
Zoom In:
AlphaFold three can model DNA and RNA and predict interactions between biological molecules.
The update is essential for drug discovery, providing critical insight into chemical compounds used in designing and testing new medicines.
Hassabis expects the first AI-designed drugs to reach clinical trials within two years.
Context: AI in medicine is a rapidly growing field. In the past decade, investors have poured over $18 billion into AI-first biotech companies, driven by the belief that AI can drastically reduce costs and accelerate drug development.
Numbers:
Isomorphic Labs, created to commercialise DeepMind's AI for drug discovery, could potentially become a multi-hundred billion dollar business.
The AI in medicine market is estimated to be worth $50 billion
Isomorphic Labs' partnerships with Eli Lilly & Co. and Novartis could be worth nearly $3 billion if successful
Google plans to spend more than $100 billion to develop its AI arsenal
How it Works: AlphaFold 3 was rebuilt using a diffusion model, an AI technique used in generative AI, allowing for more generalisable and robust predictions of molecular interactions.
Between the Lines: While AI in drug discovery shows immense promise, companies in the field have yet to demonstrate major clinical success, and some have struggled in public markets.
US Mulls Curbs on China's Access to Advanced AI Models
The U.S. Commerce Department plans to restrict the export of advanced, closed-source AI models to countries like China, Russia, North Korea, and Iran to prevent their potential misuse for cyber attacks or biological weapons.
Why it Matters: Regulating the export of AI models is crucial to prevent U.S. adversaries from exploiting the technology for malicious purposes, such as cyber-attacks or developing biological weapons.
Zoom In:
The export control may target proprietary AI models based on the computing power required to train them.
The threshold mentioned in a 2022 AI executive order could determine which models are subject to export restrictions.
The move would complement existing measures blocking the export of AI chips to China.
Context: The U.S. government and researchers are increasingly concerned about the risks posed by foreign actors gaining access to advanced AI capabilities, particularly given China's rapid advancement.
However, imposing a comprehensive regulatory regime for fast-evolving AI technology will be challenging, as many open-source models fall outside the purview of the proposed export controls.
Big Picture: The proposed export control is part of a broader U.S. effort to safeguard its AI technology from adversaries like China and Russia, which have been known to use AI for malicious purposes.
What to Watch: The Commerce Department still needs to finalise the proposal, and the computing power threshold for determining controlled AI models may be adjusted based on data type and potential uses.
What's Next: If implemented, the export control would limit access to the backend software powering consumer applications like ChatGPT for certain countries. Still, it would not restrict access to the downstream applications themselves.
AI Investment Deals
OptMyCare, a clinically engineered AI platform in healthcare & risk management, raised $3M in Series A funding led by LiveOak Ventures, totalling investments to $4.5M.
Wayve secures $1.05 billion in Series C funding for its AI self-learning autonomous driving technology, led by SoftBank, marking the U.K.'s most extensive AI fundraising.
MavarickAI raises €1.3M in pre-seed funding to advance AI-driven sustainable manufacturing, led by Act VC.
EspressoAI raises $11M to use generative AI to optimise cloud compute costs, starting with SQL optimisations for Snowflake.
Daloopa raises $18M in Series B funding to innovate its AI-powered historical data technology and expand globally.
RadAI secures $50M in Series B financing to develop and commercialise its AI software suite for radiology, led by Khosla Ventures. Total capital now exceeds $80M.
Paxafe raises $9M in Series A funding to enhance its AI-driven cold chain logistics solutions, bringing its total funding to $14M.
Numeric raises $10M in seed funding to enhance its AI-powered accounting automation platform and expand R&D.
Panax secures $15M to enhance its AI-driven cash flow management platform and expand its U.S. operations.
Atlan raises $105M in Series C funding, led by GIC, to enhance its data and AI governance platform, bringing total funding to over $206M.
Pearl receives investment from Dental Innovation Alliance VC Fund I to expand its AI dental solutions and operations.
Simplifai receives investment from Idékapital to expand its AI automation solutions for insurance and banking.
XTEND raises $40M in Series B funding to develop its AI-driven operating system, XOS, for drone and robot interaction, led by Chartered Group.
Reveal acquires Onna to integrate advanced data management into its AI-powered eDiscovery platform, enhancing the efficiency of legal data collection and analysis.
DwellFi raises $3M in seed funding to enhance its AI, blockchain, and tokenisation platform for asset management, led by E1 Ventures and others.
Samsung Medison acquires French AI ultrasound startup Sonio for $92.7M to enhance AI-driven diagnostic imaging.
Checkfirst raises $1.5M pre-seed led by Olisipo Way and Hiero VC to enhance AI-driven remote TICC (Testing, Inspection, Certification and Compliance) space.
Altera raises $9M in an oversubscribed seed round co-led by Eric Schmidt's First Spark Ventures to develop game-playing AI agents.
DeepMind alums secure $200M for their startup, Holistic AI, to develop advanced multi-agent AI models, with $80M in equity and $120 million in convertible debt.
Others
Saudi's $100B AI Fund Ready to Divest from China if US Requests
Alat, Saudi Arabia's new AI and semiconductor investment fund, prioritises partnerships with the US.
CEO Amit Midha says Alat will divest from China if the US asks it to maintain access to American technology.
Upstart Subpoenaed by SEC Regarding AI Model and Loan Disclosures
Fintech lender Upstart Holdings received an SEC subpoena on November 17 related to its AI models and loans.
Upstart reported 90% of its unsecured loans were fully automated, with no human involvement in the application process.
The SEC and other financial regulators scrutinise companies' use of AI in underwriting due to potential biases or faulty criteria.
DOJ Intensifies AI Competition Scrutiny, Plans Industry Workshop
DOJ will hold an AI competition workshop with industry leaders and officials at Stanford on May 30.
Antitrust agencies investigate Big Tech's billion-dollar investments in AI startups for potential law violations.
Amazon Launches Bedrock Studio to Simplify Generative AI App Development
Bedrock Studio offers a collaborative "rapid prototyping environment" for building generative AI-powered apps.
The web-based tool integrates with AWS resources and provides security features like single sign-on credentials.
Meta Expands Generative AI Tools for Advertisers, Enabling Full Image Creation
Meta's AI tools allow advertisers to create complete image variations, not just new backgrounds.
Advertisers can tailor generated images using text prompts, add text overlays, and expand images for different aspect ratios.
Microsoft Invests $3.3B in Wisconsin AI Data Center and Training
The investment will create 2,300 construction jobs and 2,000 data centre jobs in Racine County.
Microsoft's global AI infrastructure spending includes recent commitments in Germany ($3.4B), Japan ($2.9B), and Malaysia ($2.2B).
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