Nvidia launches new Israel AI research team to advance medicine, science

U.S. technology company Nvidia has established a new research team in Israel focused on using artificial intelligence to accelerate medical and scientific research, according to Israeli business publication Calcalist.

The new Nvidia team, Applied AI Architecture, is led by Dr. Nati Daniel, who holds a doctorate in AI from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa. He previously held senior positions at Intel, GE and Huawei. The team currently has several researchers, and Nvidia plans to recruit dozens more in Tel Aviv over the coming year.

The Israeli unit is overseen by Nvidia Chief Technology Officer Michael Kagan, who also heads the company's Israeli development center as part of its global CTO office. Kagan previously co-founded Israeli technology company Mellanox, which Nvidia acquired in 2020.

According to Calcalist, Nvidia has tasked Applied AI Architecture with exploring uses of AI beyond traditional product development, including applications aimed at advancing scientific and medical research.

The Israeli unit is one of several AI-focused research groups Nvidia has established worldwide. Unlike many of the company's other research efforts, however, it operates within the global CTO office and works with outside institutions, including hospitals, medical centers and technology research labs.

Nvidia selected Israel in part because of its concentration of advanced AI and medical research institutions, according to Calcalist. The Israeli team is already working with Sheba Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York on a genomic foundation model (gFM) aimed at advancing disease prevention, diagnosis and personalized medicine.

The team is also involved in an initiative with pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. Nvidia and Eli Lilly have announced plans to invest $1 billion over five years in research applying AI to drug discovery and development.