Anthropic has confirmed it operates a wet biology lab where artificial intelligence models can run physical experiments.
Promises that AI will cure human disease have been common among industry leaders. Dario Amodei stated just last week that he believes artificial intelligence could cure most major diseases within the next 5–10 years. For that to happen, a large language model would need methods to test its theories in real life.
“We believe that to do biology, the final test is still, and will be for a while, in real lab work,” Eric Kauderer-Abrams told Reuters. He is the head of life sciences at Anthropic. He added that the company is already doing this work today. The lab operates like most biotech facilities: Anthropic conducts some research there while also working with external partners.
This news probably should not be surprising. Anthropic bought Coefficient Bio, a stealth AI biotech, in April. The company declined to say what the wet lab is working on, except that it is not focused on drug discovery. Anthropic does not want to give the appearance of competing with the pharma industry, where it has numerous major customers and partners. For instance, it recently announced a deal to work with Novo Nordisk on joint drug discovery. Anthropic has already faced backlash for launching products perceived to compete with those of its customers.
To that end, Anthropic also launched a Life Sciences Verification Program this week. This gives vetted bio researchers access to its most powerful models.
But the world is still reeling from the resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon. He warned that “the people building AI earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Anthropic’s own alignment lead gave the odds at greater than 10% that AI could exterminate humanity within the next decade.
The fervor has grown so intense that CEO Dario Amodei published a post last weekend calling on the industry to slow down and institute self-regulation. He has repeatedly called bioterrorism one of AI’s biggest risks.
The juxtaposition of these dire warnings and the wet lab has not gone unnoticed in the tech industry. As investor and AI coding startup founder Chamath Palihapitiya posted on X, somewhat tongue-in-cheek: “The group behind such hits as: “We’re All Going To Die” and “Regulate Me Now” are building a wet lab in SF. I do not recommend this.”
What it means
For researchers using these tools, the change is practical: you can now run physical tests alongside your code. If a model predicts a biological outcome, it can verify that prediction in a real lab rather than just on a server. This reduces the gap between theory and reality, though the company keeps the specific research secret to avoid conflict with its pharmaceutical partners.
