NEW: A group of ex-Meta scientists have raised a $142 million seed round to advance AI research, particularly a newly unveiled model that can consider the sequences, structures, and functions of proteins. EvolutionaryScale's seed round was led by Lux Capital and the duo of tech founders-turned-investors: Nat Friedman and Daniel Gross. The startup also released a preprint on Tuesday of ESM3, the latest generation of the protein language model it had initially developed at Meta. The group was able to create a new glow-in-the-dark protein, effectively simulating evolution with the technology. Chief scientist Alex Rives estimated would take 500 million years to happen in nature. The long-term vision is a sweeping one, spanning not just therapeutics but environmental and industrial applications for new proteins, like ones that can break down plastics or capture carbon. “We will really be able to think much more creatively about designing biology and will have the tools to be able to approach biology not through painstaking trial and error, but through engineering from first principles,” Rives said. My latest in Endpoints News with Ryan Cross:
