{"slug": "openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued", "title": "OpenAI researcher Miles Wang in talks to launch AI drug discovery startup valued at $2B", "summary": "OpenAI researcher Miles Wang is leaving the company to launch an AI drug discovery startup valued at $2 billion, with plans to raise about $200 million from Lightspeed. The startup aims to develop AI models for finding new uses for existing drugs, capitalizing on investor interest in AI-driven life sciences breakthroughs.", "body_md": "[Miles Wang](https://mileskwang.com/), an OpenAI researcher whose work includes using AI to accelerate scientific and biological discovery, is leaving the ChatGPT maker to launch a new startup focused on developing AI models for drug discovery, according to four people with knowledge of his plans. Several other OpenAI researchers are expected to join the new company.\n\nWang is in talks to raise about $200 million at a $2 billion valuation, two of the people said. Lightspeed is in discussions to lead the funding round, according to the people. Talks are ongoing, the deal may not be final and details could change.\n\nWang disputed the story’s funding figures and description of the company but did not specify the correct numbers or details. Lightspeed didn’t respond to a request for comment.\n\nThe funding discussions point to investor interest in applying AI to make breakthroughs in life sciences. Chai Discovery, a two-year-old startup developing AI models that can predict molecular interactions to identify new drugs, announced on Tuesday that it raised [$400 million](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/14/business/dealbook/chai-discovery-ai-drug-development.html) at a $3.8 billion valuation. (Co-founder Josh Meier also passed through OpenAI as a researcher.) Meanwhile, Google DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs, which also develops AI models for drug discovery, raised a [$2.1 billion](https://www.isomorphiclabs.com/articles/isomorphic-labs-announces-series-b-investment-round) Series B in May.\n\nWang’s new startup may be working on AI models that will help find new uses for existing drugs and possibly those that previously failed in trials, a couple of sources told TechCrunch. Finding new uses for FDA-approved drugs can result in significantly faster time to revenue than developing new drugs from scratch, as these medicines have already been tested for safety.\n\nWang joined OpenAI in 2024 after dropping out from Harvard where he was working on a bachelor’s degree in computer science. (In recent years, investors are once again comfortable in betting on young founders who [haven’t completed college](https://techcrunch.com/2025/12/31/college-dropout-has-become-the-most-coveted-startup-founder-credential/).)\n\nAt OpenAI, he co-authored research papers, including evaluating how AI models can automate and [accelerate](https://openai.com/index/accelerating-biological-research-in-the-wet-lab/) scientific discovery.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued", "canonical_source": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/07/14/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued-at-2b/", "published_at": "2026-07-15 00:27:04+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-07-15 00:29:10.821459+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": ["artificial-intelligence", "ai-startups", "ai-products", "ai-research"], "entities": ["Miles Wang", "OpenAI", "Lightspeed", "Chai Discovery", "Isomorphic Labs", "Google DeepMind"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/openai-researcher-miles-wang-in-talks-to-launch-ai-drug-discovery-startup-valued.jsonld"}}