Self Driving Labs (Ep 33)

Atinary Technologies, based in Lausanne and Silicon Valley, is pioneering autonomous scientific experimentation with AI-driven robotic research labs. In this episode, our season finale, the Derby Mill panel welcomes Hermann Tribukait, co-founder and CEO of Atinary, whose vision is to use the company’s technology to exponentially accelerate the discovery of breakthrough molecules.Named after the Spanish verb “atinar” — to hit a target — Atinary’s product is SDLabs, short for “Self-Driving Labs Platform,” a code-free agentic AI solution that enables scientists to optimize their experimentation workflows without coding or machine-learning expertise. The platform has been deployed across pharma, chemicals, and materials R&D.Earlier this year, in a significant step from the digital to the physical, Atinary opened its first Self-Driving Lab in Boston, where it runs experiments autonomously 24/7. Reported efficiencies and scaling are impressive. Atinary says it can generate in a week the data that would take a grad student an entire Ph.D. For one client, Atinary’s self-driving experimentation cut the use of an expensive catalyst by 30x, reducing cost by 97% and reaction time by 50%.Is autonomous scientific discovery realistic? And where might the technology go at the limit? “One place where all this leads,” observes Sendhil, “Chemistry will get one step closer to a solved field—and when chemistry gets close to a solved field, boy does that look completely different.”PARTICIPANTSHermann Tribukait, co-founder, CEO and chair, Atinary Technologies Inc.Ajay Agrawal, co-founder and partner, Intrepid Growth PartnersSendhil Mullainathan, senior advisor, Intrepid Growth Partners, MacArthur Genius grant recipient and professor, MITNiamh Gavin, senior advisor, Intrepid Growth Partners, Applied AI scientist and CEO, Emergent PlatformsLINKSAtinary websiteLoïc Roch, Atinary CTO and co-founder, explains the technologyAtinary launches its first self-driving labSubscribe to The Derby Mill Series at our Substack (main site) or on YouTube, Spotify or Apple PodcastsDerby Mill is created by the team at Intrepid Growth Partners and produced by Ghost Bureau.DISCUSSION POINTS00:00 Cold open00:52 Explaining Atinary03:40 Sample objectives05:54 DMTA and learn07:22 Efficiencies09:29 Scaling challenge12:39 Why run experiments?15:12 A solved field16:30 Chemistry and RL17:47 GenAI lessons18:44 Football fields20:22 Chemistry as biology21:29 Formulation challenge23:15 Combinatorial search26:52 Programmable biology28:57 OFAT 30:44 Lightning round33:12 Eroom’s lawDISCLAIMERThe content of this podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as marketing, solicitation, or an offer to buy or sell any securities or investments. The opinions expressed in this video are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect the views of Intrepid Growth Partners or its affiliates. Any discussion of specific companies, technologies, or industries is for illustrative purposes and does not constitute investment advice. Viewers are encouraged to consult with their own financial, legal, and tax advisors before making any investment decisions. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit insights.intrepidgp.com