Former OpenAI science lead Kevin Weil launches Warp Sciences with $215 million to automate drug discovery labs

Key facts

• Warp Sciences aims to automate drug discovery lab work using robots.
• The startup raised $215 million at an $865 million valuation.
• Lightspeed led the funding round.

Kevin Weil, formerly the science lead at OpenAI, has launched Warp Sciences, a new artificial intelligence startup. The company focuses on automating laboratory work for drug discovery by training robots to synthesize and test promising compounds identified by researchers. Warp Sciences announced it has raised $215 million in a funding round that values the company at $865 million. The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from IVP, Premji Invest, and Lux Capital. Weil's goal is to bring back to the US the labor-intensive work of molecule variation synthesis, which is currently outsourced to contractors in China, thereby insulating the drug development process from geopolitical supply-chain risks. The startup's human chemists will train robots using cameras and sensor gloves to perform lab tasks, aiming to accelerate drug discovery through round-the-clock robotic operation.