Physical AI Scientists
Connecting molecular design with physical execution in real laboratories, helping scientists move faster from hypothesis to validation.
Trusted By Industry Leaders
BeOne Medicines
Risun Group
Qilu Pharmaceutical
Research institutes under the Chinese Academy of SciencesOur Mission
Helping Good Science Happen Faster
We see too much valuable time in laboratories still consumed by repetitive execution, condition adjustment, and cross-instrument work. We want to hand more of that burden to reliable systems, so scientists can focus on judgment, creativity, and the questions that matter most. If validation becomes faster and lower-friction, more valuable molecules, medicines, and materials have a chance to reach reality sooner.
Why Now
In molecular science, the bottleneck is often not design, but validation
AI can now generate candidate molecules and experimental ideas in a short amount of time, but physical execution in the real world remains slow, expensive, and difficult to scale. That stretches the loop from hypothesis to validation and limits the steady accumulation of high-quality experimental data. Design capabilities are advancing quickly, while physical execution remains a key constraint on R&D speed.
>$10B
Per approved drug
~10yr
Development timeline
<10%
Success rate
Digital AI
Minutes / molecule
Physical execution
Weeks / molecule
We bridge this gap with Physical AI Scientists.
Core Capabilities
Closing the Loop from Design to Execution
We are starting with some of the most real and demanding parts of drug R&D, then extending these capabilities to broader molecular science workflows.
Molecular AI Brain
Integrating retrosynthesis planning, molecular property prediction, spectral analysis, and the interpretation, analysis, and hypothesis adjustment of experimental phenomena, it helps teams move experimental loops forward more efficiently and shortens the time from molecular design to validated results.
Physical AI Execution
Powered by our proprietary VLA architecture, our general-purpose mobile robot works directly with existing lab instruments, taking on repetitive, cross-instrument, and adjustment-heavy execution work while reducing manual switching and wait time.
Data Flywheel
Every real experiment generates new execution and feedback data that continuously improves the system, allowing our robot to build a deeper understanding of the physical world over time.
Closed-loop Workflow
Starting from drug discovery, our robot is equally applicable to R&D and manufacturing across the broader molecular sciences.
See our robot in Action
We are starting with some of the most real and demanding parts of drug R&D, then extending these capabilities to broader molecular science workflows.
Validated Results
Proven inside a top global pharma lab
0%
Real-world molecule purification success rate
0 days
Trial operation at BeOne Medicines' lab
0+
Physical operations with zero execution errors
BeOne Medicines · Small-Molecule Purification (Project Code: Talos)
Deployed inside BeOne Medicines' production-grade pharmaceutical lab. Our robot autonomously executed drug molecule intermediate purification with real-time chromatographic condition adjustment and cross-instrument operation. Zero lab renovation. Full human-robot collaboration.
- Purification of 15 real drug intermediate molecules
- Stable operation in a real R&D environment
- Zero lab renovation, plug-and-play deployment
- Collaborative execution of complex workflows with scientists
Core Team
A team grown at the intersection of healthcare and AI
We come from the intersection of pharma, healthcare, and technology, so we understand not only models and systems, but also the workflows, constraints, and collaboration patterns inside real laboratories.
Jerry Chen, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
SVP & Chief Data Officer · WuXi AppTec
Spearheaded digital transformation and innovation across drug discovery, pre-clinical, clinical trials, and manufacturing
Founder & Head · Tencent Medical Big Data Lab
Built Tencent's healthcare big data infrastructure; launched China's first AI-powered triage system, deployed at multiple top-tier hospitals
Chief Architect / Head of Algorithm & Model Team · Alibaba Health
Defined healthcare big data and AI strategy; launched China's first internet hospital
Tech Lead, Card Platform · Twitter
Ph.D. in Computer Science & Engineering · University of Michigan
We're looking for exceptional talent in AI, robotics, chemistry, and life sciences.
News
Latest Updates
2026.03
Yunqi Partners (云启资本)The 'OpenAI Moment' for Pharma Labs: C12.ai Raises ¥50M as Robot Scientists Step onto the Lab Bench
Inside BeOne Medicines' lab, C12.ai's robot system Talos has been running for 50 days, completing over 3,000 experiment operations with zero errors. C12.ai closes a new ¥50M round led by Yonghua Capital, bringing AI from the digital world into real laboratories.
Read Original Article2025.03
C12.aiAI Robots Enter the Laboratory
How can artificial intelligence deeply integrate with physical laboratories to achieve exponential leaps in research efficiency? C12.ai's laboratory solutions power intelligent upgrades in pharmaceutical R&D, serving the life sciences and fine chemicals industries with LabBot — an AI robot that truly understands the lab.
Read Original Article2025.08
HuxiuAnti-Cancer Drug R&D Finally Hits the Fast-Forward Button
Humanity has never stopped fighting diseases like cancer, Alzheimer's, and AIDS. But hampered by the slow pace of new drug development, this battle has long awaited a qualitative breakthrough. The emergence of generative AI-powered large models is now fundamentally changing this trajectory.
Read Original ArticleLet's Build the Future of
Physical AI Together
Whether you're a pharma leader exploring lab automation, or a talented engineer ready to push the frontier — we'd love to hear from you.