Tech Giants Bet Billions on AI to Transform Drug Discovery
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Tech giants like Nvidia, Google, and Microsoft see biotech and drug discovery as the next big opportunity for AI to transform an industry. They are investing billions into startups, research, and developing new AI models.
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Advances in computing power, data availability, and algorithms have brought breakthroughs like DeepMind's AlphaFold protein folding model that are revolutionizing drug development.
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Interest and investment in AI for drug discovery exploded during the pandemic as the importance of biotech became clear. Over 280 biotech AI startups have received $7.7 billion in VC funding since 2021.
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However, there are still challenges around lack of quality training data and years-long drug testing processes before treatments reach patients. Some big tech efforts have been abandoned already.
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Experts see ample room for optimization in combining strengths - AI companies' computing power and algorithms with biotech's data and ability to quickly test predictions experimentally. The future potential to accelerate discoveries is vast.