Anthropic has established a biology research laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area for physical experiments, confirming that its life-sciences work extends beyond computer-based research. The company has not disclosed the lab’s precise projects, but says AI could accelerate the development of treatments for difficult-to-treat conditions and complex targeted therapies.

The lab may include efforts to use Claude to control robots conducting scientific experiments, although Anthropic says this work is at a very early stage and requires human oversight for safety. Its activities are not limited to drug discovery, despite the Claude Science programme launched in June, and the company has not yet conducted a clinical trial. The initiative comes as Anthropic faces wider public concerns about AI safety, including the potential misuse of its models to develop biological weapons.