Ex-Meta AI Researcher Launches New Lab Focused on Scientific Discovery

A new artificial intelligence lab, dubbed "Aire," has been founded by a former Meta AI researcher, Adi Sinaiyev, aiming to create an AI system capable of independently conducting parts of the research and development process. The company has already secured tens of millions of dollars in seed funding from investors including General Catalyst and Kima Ventures, and is preparing for a new funding round. Aire is developing what it describes as an "AI world," a system designed to automate research tasks in fields like biology, physics, and finance, moving beyond current AI models that primarily answer questions or generate content. The company operates across the United States, France, and Israel, and is registered in Israel under the name "FLOPS & FRIENDS," though details about its technology remain undisclosed.

The founding team brings significant experience from leading AI institutions. Sinaiyev previously worked at Meta FAIR, while co-founder Bilo worked at OpenAI and has experience with other AI startups. Sinaiyev, 38, holds a PhD in computer science from Bar-Ilan University and previously worked at IBM before joining Facebook's AI lab in 2017. His research at Meta focused on deep learning, speech and language processing, and generative models for audio, music, and multimodal systems.

Aire's establishment aligns with a trend of new AI labs attracting talent from major tech companies and securing early-stage funding. These emerging labs are competing with tech giants by focusing on developing AI systems for advanced scientific tasks, aiming for commercial products later. The competitive landscape now includes both established tech giants and these nascent research labs.