Why Drug Research Is Shifting to AI Platforms, According to Nvidia’s CEO
With the growth of the biotech industry, drug research is already embracing a major change. The change that we did not see coming. The world is shifting from rows of lab benches, months of trial and error experiments, and slow progress to advanced technology-driven discovery. This change is powered by artificial intelligence.
Yes, you read it right. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang discussed this shift in drug research at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Mr. Huang said that this is just the beginning. The world of biotech is moving away from traditional wet labs to advanced AI systems. And this is any vision of the future. This is today’s reality, where the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies are already leading the way.
Mr. Huang highlighted that the pharmaceutical industry is now realizing the power of AI in biology and medicine. He pointed out how pharmaceutical giants are moving towards technology. Even though Lilly is not yet a trillion-dollar company, Mr. Huang used it to explain this shift. The companies need advanced technology to scale up. This will help them achieve their ambition and place themselves as a major player in the industry.
During his Davos appearance, Mr. Jensen Huang said that three years ago, most of their R&D budget was likely spent on wet labs. But now they have invested in the AI supercomputers. They have AI labs, and increasingly, their R&D budget is shifting towards AI.
Even Lilly has confirmed that their partnership with Nvidia is to build a powerful AI supercomputer. This advanced system is designed to help researchers create high-end research models. It will also improve the manufacturing process and develop what the companies call scientific AI agents. With these systems, we can plan and guide experiments before starting any physical testing.
NVIDIA and Lilly have announced that they will now invest upto $1 billion together in the next five years. This funding will be used to hire talented minds across the globe. Along with this, they are planning to build infrastructure and secure the computing power needed to support a new AI co-innovation lab. The main aim is to accelerate drug research while reducing the cost and complexity of early discovery.
Lilly has made no direct reference to Mr. Huang’s comments. The higher leadership has made a public announcement about the role of AI in their company’s progress. Last year October, executive vice president Diogo Rau said that with purpose-built AI models, they can set a new scientific standard and deliver medicines to patients faster than ever before.
This shift towards AI has made many advances in biology and chemistry. According to Mr. Huang, these AI systems are better at analyzing protein and chemical compound structures. For many years, these were the two major problems in drug research. By providing a digital solution, we can now identify promising drug candidates faster. This cuts down the years of research and money spent.
This change in the industry has reshaped how lab works. In recent times, there is a demand for labs that blend traditional lab work with digital tools. A report published in July 2025 by global real estate firm JLL estimates that these advanced labs could generate 5.2 billion dollars in annual revenue by 2030.
But we have to remember that this transition is uneven. Only a few life science and pharma companies said they will upgrade their R&D with advanced technologies such as AI.
To keep up with this demand, landlords are now offering more flexible layouts. They have divided new spaces into three parts: wet lab areas, write-up or analysis space, and flexible rooms. These flexible rooms can be quickly converted for different uses.
For decades, AI has promoted many tools that can change medicine. Mr. Huang said that they are going to see some really great and big breakthroughs.
If he is right, the next wave of medical innovation may come from data centres. AI models are changing traditional labs. They are marking a turning point for the pharmaceutical industry.
