Ex-OpenAI Chief Launches Drug Chemistry Startup with $215M

Kevin Weil, who left OpenAI six months ago, has launched Warp Sciences with $215 million in funding. The startup is building a U.S.-based chemistry contract research organization to supply biotech and pharmaceutical companies with drug candidate molecules. Warp's first service is lead optimization analog synthesis, with physical lab data used to train its AI models. Chemists will teach robots lab tasks via cameras and sensor gloves. Co-founders include DJ Patil, former White House chief data scientist, and Meta AI veteran Mano Paluri. Lightspeed Venture Partners led the round.