Discovery Loop(discoveryloop.com)
938 points by xtreak29 69 days ago | 591 comments
tl;dr: Discovery Loop is a new startup founded by Jeff Dean, Sanjay Ghemawat, Quoc Le, and Oriol Vinyals aimed at automating the scientific experimental loop using frontier AI models and large-scale compute. The company will initially focus on automating machine learning research itself, then expand to tackle NAE Grand Challenges like drug discovery, solar energy, and clean water. They're building a lean, in-person team leveraging full-stack expertise from chips to models.
HN Discussion:
  • ↑Automating the experimental loop is a promising scientific revolution that could unlock overlooked discoveries
  • ~This is really a retirement/lifestyle project to keep senior Google engineers away from competitors, not a serious startup
  • ↓AI cannot truly automate experiments because physical embodiment and irreducible real-world timelines constrain science
  • ↓The mission statement is convoluted, jargon-heavy, and clichéd rather than genuinely straightforward
  • ↑Structuring the company to avoid harmful AI uses is a smart move that will attract top talent