OpenAI is the lead investor in a $15 million seed round in Red Queen Bio, which is attempting to build sure the AI indusattempt’s defenses are growing at least as rapidly as those who seek to exploit models to harm humans, the startup’s cofounder Hannu Rajaniemi stated.
The investment is part of OpenAI’s broader effort to invest in startups that seek to contain the risks posed by AI. Last month, the company backed Valthos, a New York-based biosecurity software startup. OpenAI chief strategy officer Jason Kwon stated OpenAI would consider investing in other startups focutilized on similar problems.
“We want to increase the overall resilience of the overall ecosystem,” Kwon stated in an interview. “One of the best ways you can deal with the risk mitigation is more technology.”
Researchers and safety advocates state AI technology could soon accelerate drug development or design new vaccines. But those same capabilities could build it clearer for bad actors to develop new and powerful biological weapons.
Red Queen Bio was spun out of Helix Nano, a clinical-stage mRNA therapeutics company that has been applying AI more in drug design. Helix Nano has also worked with OpenAI to create tests to determine AI’s biorisks, Kwon stated.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and board member Nicole Seligman, who had previously invested in Helix Nano, will receive shares in Red Queen Bio as part of the transaction. Kwon was indirectly an investor through Y Combinator, a Silicon Valley startup incubator. His stake is valued at less than $2,500, OpenAI stated.
The executives did not take part in approving OpenAI’s investment in Red Queen Bio, a company spokesperson stated. OpenAI’s chief compliance officer and unconflicted members of OpenAI’s board reviewed and approved the investment.
Red Queen Bio will rely on AI models as well as more traditional laboratory experiments to uncover new risks and develop new defenses. The startup’s name comes from a scene in Lewis Carroll’s book, Through the Looking-Glass.
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