“If you are not having a conversation with your research data, you’re still operating in analog mode.” That’s the stark assessment from Mikael Hagstroem, CEO of LabVantage. While many labs possess vast amounts of data, more isn’t always better if scientists struggle to access and contextualize it effectively. For Hagstroem, the ability to converse with…
New AI model enhances antibody structure prediction for drug development
MIT researchers have developed AbMap, a computational model that predicts antibody structures with improved accuracy. This could accelerate the development of treatments for infectious diseases like SARS-CoV-2. Unlike existing AI models, AbMap focuses on antibodies’ hypervariable regions — highly diverse segments critical for binding pathogens — and overcomes limitations in previous protein modeling approaches. Using…
This week in AI research: Amazon launches 2T parameter video model, Mount Sinai opens AI center, Recursion-Exscientia close merger
Amazon is unveiling its multimodal “Olympus” AI model featuring advanced video analysis capabilities, with development versions ranging from 400 billion to 2 trillion parameters. In other news, Mount Sinai Health System opened a 65,000-square-foot AI research center housing 40 Principal Investigators and 250 technical staff, while Recursion Pharmaceuticals completed its merger with Exscientia, reporting a…
This week in AI research: Amazon doubles Anthropic stake to $8B as industry debates scaling limits
Amazon recently doubled down on its Anthropic investment with an additional $4 billion, while NVIDIA reported another quarter of remarkable growth with sales hitting $35.1 billion. Meanwhile, a debate emerged at the Cerebral Valley AI Summit about whether AI development is hitting a scaling wall, with industry leaders like Anthropic’s Dario Amodei and Scale AI’s Alexandr…
New cryo-EM technology at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital pushes boundaries of molecular imaging
For decades, structural biologists have sought to map the structures of proteins and other macromolecules within cells. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), whose early development traces back to the 1970s, emerged as a promising technique for visualizing cells in their natural, hydrated state. But the technology’s initial inability to produce sharp images was a stumbling block in…
This week in AI research: OpenAI’s valuation hits $150B as it unveils o1 model family
After nearly a year of rumors surrounding OpenAI’s “Q*” (later “Strawberry“) project and its potential for advanced reasoning, the company has finally unveiled its new “o1” AI models that mirror humans’ ability to think before speaking. These models allocate more processing power to reasoning before generating output, significantly improving accuracy on complex tasks across science,…
OpenAI unveils ‘o1,’ a new AI model family that ‘thinks’ before responding
After a wave of media attention about rumored OpenAI models codenamed Strawberry and Orion, OpenAI has announced the launch of OpenAI o1, a new series of AI models designed to handle complex problems requiring advanced reasoning. According to an announcement from the company, the model family represents a significant leap forward from previous models in…
Robots run the lab, biologists design the experiments
Parallel Bio’s head of technology shares a vision for faster, cheaper, and better biological research with human organoids. Ari Gesher, Parallel Bio’s new head of technology, may be new to biotech, but that’s not stopping him from thinking big about disrupting the status quo in biological research. The biotech startup is betting on automation and…
AI’s expanding role in mpox research spans digital staining to skin lesion classification
A more deadly strain of mpox is spreading across Africa, with more than 17,000 suspected cases and a death toll already surpassing last year’s total. With the more severe Clade I variant driving the uptick, mpox continues to pose a significant threat to global health with the World Health Organization (WHO) classifying it as…
From self-driving cars to an autonomous AI/ML analytical platform for drug discovery
What do frictionless parking experiences and life-saving drugs have in common? For data scientist June Guo, the answer lies in setting AI algorithms loose on vast troves of data. Before setting his sights on human biology, Guo worked at Metropolis Technologies, a company focused on transforming the parking experience through the use of advanced computer…
Top 30 R&D spending leaders of 2023: Big Tech firms spending hit new heights
In 2023, the world’s top companies invested hefty sums in R&D, with tech giants like Amazon, Alphabet, and Meta leading the pack. Amazon alone poured $85.622 billion into technology and infrastructure, which includes R&D. The Seattle-headquartered company’s spending reflects Amazon’s ambition to lead not just in e-commerce, but in a growing number of fields ranging…