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An AI That Promises to “Solve All Diseases” Is About to Test Its First Human Drugs

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12 hours ago

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Deep inside Alphabet, the parent company of Google, a secretive lab is working on a promise so audacious it sounds like science fiction: to “solve all diseases.” The company, Isomorphic Labs, is now preparing to start its first human clinical trials for cancer drugs designed entirely by artificial intelligence.

In a recent interview with Fortune, Colin Murdoch, President of Isomorphic Labs and Chief Business Officer of Google DeepMind, confirmed the company is on the verge of this monumental step. For anyone who has watched a loved one battle a devastating illness, the hope this offers is immense. But for a public increasingly wary of AI’s power, it raises a chilling question: can we really trust a “black box” algorithm with our lives?

Isomorphic Labs was born from DeepMind’s celebrated AlphaFold breakthrough, the AI system that stunned scientists by predicting the complex 3D shapes of proteins. To understand why this is a big deal, you need to know how drugs are traditionally made. For decades, it’s been a slow, brutal process of trial and error. Scientists spend an average of 10 to 15 years and over a billion dollars to bring a single new drug to market, with most candidates failing along the way.

Isomorphic Labs uses its AI, AlphaFold 3, to radically accelerate this. The AI can predict the complex 3D structures of proteins in the human body with stunning accuracy, allowing scientists to digitally design new drug molecules that are perfectly shaped to fight a specific disease, all before ever entering a physical lab

The company has already signed multi-billion dollar deals with pharmaceutical giants Novartis and Eli Lilly, and just raised $600 million in new funding to move its own drug candidates—starting with oncology—into human trials. The promise is a medical utopia. “This funding will further turbocharge the development of our next-generation AI drug design engine, help us advance our own programs into clinical development, and is a significant step forward towards our mission of one day solving all disease with the help of AI,” CEO Sir Demi Hassabis, who won the 2024 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry for his pioneering work on AlphaFold 2, said back in March.

But when Big Tech starts designing medicine, who owns your cure? This is where deep-seated fears about AI’s role in our lives come into focus. The biggest concern is the “black box” problem: we know the AI gives an answer, but we don’t always know how. This raises critical questions:

  • Will Alphabet own the next cancer drug like it owns your search results?
  • Will these AI-designed treatments be affordable, or will they be trapped behind sky-high patents accessible only to the wealthy?
  • Will human trial standards keep up with the sheer speed of machine-generated breakthroughs?
  • And who is liable if an AI-designed drug goes wrong? The company that owns the AI? The programmers? The AI itself?

When contacted by Gizmodo, a spokesperson for Isomorphic Labs said the company “don’t have anything more to share.”

AI could revolutionize medicine. But if left unchecked, it could also replicate the worst parts of the tech industry: opacity, monopoly, and profit over access. Isomorphic Labs is pushing humanity toward a monumental turning point. If they succeed, they could alleviate more suffering than any other invention in history.

But to do so, they first have to convince a skeptical public that the promise is worth the unprecedented risk.



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AI Insights

In creating an ad, using AI for scenes – but not people – may retain consumer trust – VCU News

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18 minutes ago

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July 9, 2025

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By Leila Ugincius

Image-generative artificial intelligence makes ad creation faster and cheaper — but there’s an intriguing hook to the look, according to new research from Virginia Commonwealth University. Trust can plummet when AI-generated visuals depict service providers in industries where relationships matter.

So, how can AI help service marketers without compromising trust?

A study coauthored by César Zamudio, Ph.D., associate professor of marketing in the VCU School of Business, determined that selective AI use in ad creation is key.

“When tangible elements — like a doctor’s office environment — are AI-generated, but the service provider’s image is a real picture, trust and ad effectiveness are restored,” Zamudio said. “The takeaway? Use AI where it counts, and let the human element shine.”

This balance is crucial for small businesses as they market themselves. The smart move is to use AI to generate backgrounds, office settings or equipment — but keep real people in their ads. This way, businesses can still benefit from AI’s speed and cost savings without losing consumer confidence.

“Our research offers a simple, actionable strategy: Use AI for settings, not people,” Zamudio said. “This approach can help you cut ad costs without cutting credibility, giving you a real edge to beat bigger brands.”

The research is also relevant to consumers, who can use it to help navigate AI-driven marketing.

“Not all AI ads are misleading,” Zamudio said, “but knowing what’s real — and what’s not — can shape your trust in a brand. … Our study reveals how AI in advertising shapes trust, helping you stay informed, skeptical and aware in today’s digital marketing landscape.”

Smart AI use is key, he said. “Brands can harness AI’s efficiency without losing credibility by keeping real people front and center in service ads. Marketers can use this research to successfully walk the tightrope between innovation and consumer confidence.”

This is especially important for services, where ads help make intangible offerings feel real and trustworthy. With AI disclosures becoming more common due to government and industry pressures, businesses need to know how to design AI-driven ads that maintain consumer trust.

Zamudio’s study, “Service Ads in the Era of Generative AI: Disclosures, Trust and Intangibility,” was co-authored with colleagues from Missouri State University and Longwood University and was published recently in the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.