The artificial intelligence developer Anthropic established a new research facility in the San Francisco Bay Area to move its biological studies beyond computer simulations. This "wet lab" allows the company's Claude AI to direct laboratory robots to automate scientific experiments with limited human intervention. Life sciences chief Eric Kauderer-Abrams confirmed the center is in the "very early innings" of automating the execution of lab work.

A spokesperson clarified the facility is not specifically for drug discovery, though the company targets preclinical research for rare and traditionally undruggable diseases to avoid direct competition with drugmakers. The shift to physical experimentation follows internal warnings from Anthropic researchers that advanced AI could facilitate the development of biological weapons or create catastrophic biological risks.