CZ Biohub, Meta, Google DeepMind and the U.S. government have committed a combined $1.8 billion to build open, AI-ready biological datasets and virtual cell foundation models, one of the largest AI-for-science investments to date.
The funding includes a joint $300 million investment from Google DeepMind, Meta and Isomorphic Labs into the Biohub's virtual cell project, which aims to create computational models that simulate how human cells behave at a systems level.
The goal is to give researchers a foundation model of biology itself, one that can predict how cells respond to genes, drugs and disease. If successful, virtual cells could compress years of laboratory work into computational experiments, accelerating drug discovery and personalized medicine.
The scale of the commitment reflects a broader trend: AI labs are increasingly treating scientific discovery, not just language or images, as the next frontier for foundation models.
