OpenAI's Miles Wang to Launch $2B AI Drug Startup
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- Miles Wang, an OpenAI researcher focused on AI-driven scientific discovery, is leaving the company to start a new AI drug discovery venture, with several other OpenAI researchers set to join him.
- Wang's startup is in discussions to raise approximately $200 million at a $2 billion valuation, with Lightspeed in talks to lead the round, though the deal is not yet final.
- Wang disputed the reported funding figures and description of the company but did not provide alternative numbers; Lightspeed declined to comment.
- The new company may build AI models to identify new uses for existing drugs — including those that previously failed in clinical trials — a faster path to revenue than developing new drugs from scratch, per sources.
- Wang joined OpenAI in 2024 after dropping out of Harvard, where he was pursuing a bachelor's in computer science, and co-authored research on automating scientific discovery.
- The deal reflects surging investor appetite for AI life-sciences startups: Chai Discovery raised $400 million at a $3.8 billion valuation this week, and Google DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs closed a $2.1 billion Series B in May.
Why it matters: A pre-launch drug discovery startup commanding a $2 billion valuation underscores how aggressively capital is chasing AI-biology bets, with the reported deal size rivaling Isomorphic Labs' $2.1 billion round and exceeding Chai Discovery's $400 million raise. OpenAI loses another researcher from its biology team, reinforcing a steady talent drain to independently funded ventures.
