Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in Chevy Chase, Maryland, has announced a 10-year, $500 million commitment in support of AI-driven projects in the health, biomedical, and life sciences.

AI@HHMI aims to dramatically accelerate the use of AI in scientific discovery at its Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia. In collaboration with the more than 300 affiliated labs across the HHMI network, the initiative will adopt a research approach that places AI at the heart of the scientific process to “catalyze an explosion of knowledge about the complexities of life.”

To that end, HHMI will use AI systems to help design experiments, build automated pipelines, collect “AI-ready” data, and create generalizable learning models capable of inferring underlying principles within the data. Through this effort, hundreds of HHMI investigators will design and execute a wide range of ambitious AI-based biomedical research projects.

“Our scientists will reimagine the research process,” said Janelia executive director Nelson Spruston. “Multidisciplinary teams will collaborate to design, execute, and interpret experiments. By sharing the tools and results, we aim to transform and accelerate the discovery process, not just at HHMI, but around the world.”

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