Kevin Weil, the former chief product officer at OpenAI, is making a significant bet on the intersection of artificial intelligence and scientific research. According to sources familiar with the matter, Weil is seeking a valuation of at least 750 million dollars for his new startup. As part of this ambitious launch, he is looking to raise roughly 150 million dollars in funding, though final details remain subject to change.
While specific operational secrets regarding the company are being kept close to the chest, reports suggest Weil has positioned the venture as a method for gathering high quality scientific data specifically tailored for AI models. This move marks a strategic pivot from general purpose chatbots toward specialized tools capable of accelerating breakthroughs in fields like drug discovery and autonomous experimentation. During his tenure at OpenAI, Weil managed science initiatives including Prism, a project aimed at integrating advanced models directly into the workflows of researchers.
Weil’s departure follows a wider trend of leadership churn at OpenAI, joining several other high profile exits including long time COO Brad Lightcap and others who have left to pursue independent ventures. His transition highlights an emerging gold rush among Silicon Valley veterans from both OpenAI and Google who believe that AI’s next great frontier lies in automating the scientific process rather than just generating text or images.
The competition in this space is already heating up rapidly. Other alumni are launching similar firms such as Periodic Labs, which aims to combine AI agents with robotic laboratories to create its own training data. Even Google’s chief scientist Jeff Dean recently announced his exit to form Discovery Loop, another startup focused on engineering and science applications. Together, these moves signal a shift in investor appetite toward companies that can transform how humanity conducts basic research through machine learning.