Former OpenAI executive Kevin Weil has sought a valuation of at least $750 million for his new AI science startup

Former OpenAI executive Kevin Weil has sought a valuation of at least $750 million for his new AI science startup Kevin Weil Bloomberg/Getty Images Kevin Weil, the former chief product officer of OpenAI, has sought a valuation of at least $750 million for a new AI science startup, in the latest example of AI pushing into science. Weil is aiming to raise $150 million in the round, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions. The details have not been finalized yet and could still change.Weil did not respond to a request for comment.Weil's fundraising is a broader sign that AI's next frontier is shifting from chatbots to science. A growing number of OpenAI and Google alums are launching startups that promise to accelerate scientific discovery, from designing new drugs to running autonomous experiments.Weil departed OpenAI earlier this year, where he was chief product officer and then oversaw science initiatives. He oversaw Prism, a workspace designed to bring frontier models directly into scientists' workflows.Prior to OpenAI, Weil was a product executive at Meta and Twitter. He holds various board seats, including on the boards of Cisco and Stoke Space.The exact details of his new startup could not be learned, but sources say he has pitched it as a way to gather scientific data for AI models. Weil is far from the only senior OpenAI leader to head for the exits. Brad Lightcap, the company's longtime former chief operating officer, announced that he was leaving after eight years to start "something new." Fidji Simo stepped down as CEO of applications in July, citing health reasons, and moved into a part-time advisory role. In April, Weil's departure coincided with the exits of Sora's head, Bill Peebles, and Srinivas Narayanan, OpenAI's CTO for business applications.Weil's new AI-for-science startup enters an increasingly competitive race to use artificial intelligence to automate the scientific process.Periodic Labs, founded by former OpenAI researcher Liam Fedus and former Google DeepMind researcher Ekin Dogus Cubuk, is building AI scientists alongside autonomous laboratories where robots can conduct physical experiments and generate new training data. Investors in that company include Andreessen Horowitz, Accel, Jeff Bezos, and Eric Schmidt.Last week, Jeff Dean, Google's chief scientist, announced that he and three other colleagues were leaving to start Discovery Loop, an AI startup focused on AI applications in science and engineering. 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It could be the largest seed round in history.Half of Sequoia Capital's VC funds since 2018 have posted losses for the University of California's endowmentHow Whitney Wolfe Herd's fateful deal with a Russian mogul deprived early Bumble employees of a stock windfall when she became a billionaireMailchimp employees are furious after the company's founders promised to never sell, withheld equity, and then sold it for $12 billion'My job is not to be the best friend of the CEO': Upfront's Mark Suster prides himself on being hard on founders, but some say his tough-love approach has gone too farHere is a little more about me: Previously, I was a senior reporter at LAist/Southern California Public Radio, where I covered business and economics. I have also written for The New York Times and Columbia Journalism Review and was a reporting intern at The Times. I started my career as a producer for NPR's Morning Edition and also produced award-winning documentaries for public television.I spent the 2017-2018 academic year at Columbia Business School as a Knight-Bagehot fellow. After that, I oversaw the development of The Journal, a daily podcast produced by The Wall Street Journal and Gimlet Media.Originally from Seattle, I graduated cum laude from Occidental College in Los Angeles with a degree in politics.In my free time, I love skiing, tennis, and poker. I competed in the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event but sadly did not win. AI Startups Leadership More Exclusive