Nvidia Establishes New AI Research Lab in Israel for Drug Discovery

Technology giant Nvidia is significantly expanding its research operations in Israel with the establishment of a new development arm. The initiative, spearheaded by Michael Kagan, Nvidia's global CTO and a co-founder of Mellanox, will operate directly under the global CTO's office from the company's Tel Aviv development center. The new group, named Applied AI Architecture, is led by Dr. Nati Daniel, who holds a PhD in artificial intelligence from the Technion and previously worked at Intel, GE, and Huawei.

The primary objective of this new unit is to leverage Nvidia's advanced AI capabilities to drive long-term scientific and medical research. Key priorities include developing AI-driven models for discovering new drugs, diagnosing diseases, and gaining a deeper understanding of the human genome. The team currently consists of a small number of researchers, but Nvidia plans to recruit dozens more in the coming year.

Unlike typical research groups within the company, the Israeli unit will emphasize strategic external collaborations. One such project involves developing a novel genomic foundation model (gFM) in partnership with Sheba Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, aiming to analyze approximately 98% of the human genome that remains unexplored. The team is also involved in Nvidia's substantial $1 billion initiative with pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly to accelerate drug development, as well as the European GENMAT project focused on advanced materials for the pharmaceutical and aviation industries.

Nvidia's move is seen as a vote of confidence in Israel's technological and scientific talent, with potential significant macroeconomic benefits for the country, including increased GDP, exports, and tax revenue. It also reinforces Israel's position as a critical development hub for the global chip giant.