Anthropic 正运营一间开展生物学实验的实验室

Anthropic 已向 TechCrunch 证实，该公司在湾区设有一间湿实验室（wet biology lab），能够使用其 AI 模型开展实体实验。

AI 领域领导者一直承诺，AI 将是治愈人类疾病的关键。Dario Amodei 上周还表示：“我相信，AI 可能在未来 5 至 10 年内治愈大多数重大疾病。”要做到这一点，大语言模型必须具备在现实世界中检验其理论的方法。

Anthropic 生命科学负责人 Eric Kauderer-Abrams 告诉路透社：“我们相信，要做生物学研究，最终测试仍然是——并且在一段时间内仍将是——真正的实验室工作。我们今天确实正在这样做。”他补充说，这间实验室的运作方式与大多数生物科技实验室类似：Anthropic 在其中开展部分研究，同时也与外部合作伙伴合作。

这则消息或许并不令人意外。Anthropic 在 4 月收购了处于隐身模式的 AI 生物科技公司 Coefficient Bio。

尽管 Anthropic 拒绝透露这间湿实验室具体在研究什么，但该公司表示，其主要重点是基础生物学，而不是药物发现。

Anthropic 不希望给人留下与制药行业竞争的印象，因为该行业中有许多它的重要客户和合作伙伴（例如，该公司刚刚宣布将与诺和诺德合作开展联合药物发现）。Anthropic 此前已经遭遇反弹，原因是其推出的产品被认为与客户的产品形成竞争。

为此，Anthropic 本周还推出了生命科学验证计划（Life Sciences Verification Program），让经过审核的生物研究人员获得访问权限，以使用其最强大的模型。该公司还发布了近期的一些研究报告，介绍其为支持药物发现所做的工作，其中包括一份关于加速蛋白质设计的报告，以及一份关于提升生物分子建模的报告。

但 Anthropic 研究员 Jacob Coxon 的辞职仍令外界震动。他警告称，“构建 AI 的人真诚地相信，到本十年末它可能杀死我们所有人。”Anthropic 自身的对齐负责人则给出了超过 10% 的概率，认为 AI 可能在未来十年内灭绝人类。

这种焦虑情绪已强烈到 CEO Dario Amodei 上周末发表文章，呼吁行业放缓脚步并实行自我监管。他曾多次称，生物恐怖主义是 AI 最大的风险之一。

这些严厉警告与湿实验室之间的并置关系，并未逃过科技行业的注意。投资人兼AI 编程创业公司创始人 Chamath Palihapitiya 在 X 上发帖调侃道：“推出过《我们都会死》和《现在就监管我》等热门作品的团队，正在旧金山建一间湿实验室。我不推荐这么做。”

Anthropic has a wet biology lab in the Bay Area where it can use its AI models to run physical experiments, it has confirmed to TechCrunch.

AI leaders have been promising that AI is the key to curing human disease. Dario Amodei opined just last week: “I believe that AI could cure most major diseases in the next 5–10 years.” To do that, an LLM would have to have 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,” Anthropic’s head of life sciences, Eric Kauderer-Abrams, told Reuters. “We absolutely are doing that today.” He added that the lab operates like most biotech labs: Anthropic conducts some research there while also working with external partners.

This news probably shouldn’t be shocking. Anthropic bought Coefficient Bio, a stealth AI biotech, in April.

While Anthropic declined to give specifics on what the wet lab is working on, it did say the main focus was fundamental biology, not drug discovery.

Anthropic doesn’t want to give the appearance of competing with the pharma industry, where it has numerous major customers and partners (e.g., it just 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, to give vetted bio researchers access to its most powerful models. It has also published recent reports on some of the research it’s doing to support drug discovery. This includes one report on accelerating protein design and one on uplifting bimolecular modeling.

But the world is still reeling from the resignation of Anthropic researcher Jacob Coxon, who 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.”