Anthropic Confirms It Runs a Wet Biology Lab in the Bay Area
Anthropic says its Bay Area lab uses AI models for physical experiments, while focusing on fundamental biology rather than drug discovery. It also launched a vetted Life Sciences Verification Program and acquired Coefficient Bio in April 2026.
Anthropic has confirmed it operates a wet biology lab in the Bay Area where it uses its AI models to run physical experiments, the company told TechCrunch in September 2026.
Eric Kauderer-Abrams, Anthropic’s head of life sciences, told Reuters that real lab work remains essential to doing biology. “We believe that to do biology, the final test is still, and will be for a while, in real lab work,” he said. “We absolutely are doing that today.” He added that the lab operates like most biotech labs, with Anthropic conducting some research internally while also working with external partners.
Anthropic declined to provide specifics on the lab’s projects but said the main focus is fundamental biology, not drug discovery. The company appears to be deliberately avoiding the appearance of competing with its pharma industry customers and partners — a group that includes Novo Nordisk, with whom Anthropic recently announced a joint drug discovery deal.
The lab’s existence is not entirely surprising. Anthropic acquired Coefficient Bio, a stealth AI biotech company, in April 2026. CEO Dario Amodei has also stated publicly that he believes AI could cure most major diseases within five to ten years.
Alongside the lab disclosure, Anthropic launched a Life Sciences Verification Program to give vetted biology researchers access to its most powerful models, and published research reports on protein design and biomolecular modeling.
The announcement arrives against a charged backdrop. A recently resigned Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, warned that people building AI “earnestly believe that it could kill us all by the end of the decade.” Anthropic’s own alignment lead has put the odds of AI posing an existential risk to humanity at greater than 10% within the next decade. Amodei himself published a post calling on the industry to slow down and self-regulate, and has repeatedly cited bioterrorism as one of AI’s biggest risks.
The contrast between those warnings and the operation of a physical biology lab drew pointed commentary from investor Chamath Palihapitiya, who posted on X: “The group behind such hits as: ‘We’re All Going To Die’ and ‘Regulate Me Now’ are building a wet lab in SF. I do not recommend this.”