Anthropic quietly builds biolab run by Claude AI

Anthropic has quietly built a physical biology lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, pushing its AI ambitions into drug science beyond computer modeling, two people familiar with the matter said.

Eric Kauderer-Abrams, the company's head of life sciences, confirmed the wet lab, saying real lab work remains the final test in biology and describing the setup as typical of most biotech companies, with some work in-house and some through external partners. A spokesperson later said the lab is not specifically for drug discovery, declining to elaborate.

The company wants Claude to direct robotic units running experiments with limited human intervention, one source said, though Anthropic says human oversight remains essential for safety.

The timing is striking. In the past two weeks, Anthropic researchers warned that AI could lead to human extinction, the company said it found cases where its systems could have aided biological weapons development, and CEO Dario Amodei called for a slowdown in AI development. Anthropic is simultaneously preparing an IPO that could value it at $2 trillion.

The company has added Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan to its board, acquired startup Coefficient Bio for roughly $400 million in stock, and launched Claude Science. It says it will stop short of clinical trials to avoid competing with the pharmaceutical firms that are also its customers.