Singapore-based ChemLex raised $45 million to build out its autonomous chemistry lab with hopes it can speed drug discovery and therapy development for pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. The self-driving lab consists of AI software and robots that design experiments, run them, and gather data, according to the company. The facilities run all day, everyday, with limited human intervention.
The technology represents what many executives and government leaders are painting as the ideal future of AI — software and hardware working together to do the heavy lifting, overseen by a handful of human workers, which would speed up development and free scientists to perform other high-level tasks. It’s still early days for ChemLex and unclear if the technology can scale, but if so, it will be a game changer for other industries on optimizing their time, investment, and talent.