Former OpenAI science lead launches Warp Science to automate wet labs with robots

Kevin Weil, a former science lead at OpenAI, has started a new AI company called Warp Sciences. The company aims to use robots to automate lab work that helps researchers discover new drugs. Its robots make and test promising chemical compounds that researchers have identified. According to Weil, who announced the company and its funding on X, Warp Sciences has raised $215 million at a company value of $865 million.

Lightspeed led the funding round. IVP, Premji Invest, and Lux Capital also invested.

For years, biotech companies have paid outside companies in China, such as WuXi AppTec, to do the most time-consuming part of making thousands of different versions of molecules. With Warp Sciences, Weil hopes to bring this work back to the United States and reduce the risk of drug development being disrupted by political tensions or problems with supply chains.

The company's human chemists will wear cameras and gloves with sensors to teach robots how to do different lab tasks. By using robots to automate work in labs where scientists handle chemicals and other materials directly, Warp Sciences hopes to speed up the search for new drugs. The robots will be able to work around the clock.