Nvidia and Eli Lilly reveal $1 billion funding for an artificial intelligence-powered drug research facility

Nvidia and Eli Lilly Commit $1 Billion to AI-Powered Drug Discovery Lab

Nvidia, a leader in AI chip technology, and pharmaceutical powerhouse Eli Lilly have revealed plans to jointly invest $1 billion in a new San Francisco laboratory dedicated to harnessing artificial intelligence for faster drug development.

David Ricks, CEO of Lilly, commented, “By merging our extensive data and scientific expertise with Nvidia’s advanced computing and AI capabilities, we have the potential to revolutionize the process of discovering new medicines.”

This substantial investment will be allocated over five years, focusing on building infrastructure, expanding computing resources, and attracting top talent. Teams from Nvidia and Lilly will collaborate closely, combining Nvidia’s engineering with Lilly’s biological and medical knowledge to generate large datasets and develop AI models that could accelerate medical breakthroughs. The initiative is set to launch in the coming months.

This move expands on the existing collaboration between the two companies. In October, Lilly announced it was establishing an AI-driven facility powered by Nvidia’s technology to shorten the timeline for drug discovery.

On Monday, Lilly’s stock saw a modest increase and has soared nearly 34% over the past year, outpacing the S&P 500’s 19% rise. In November, Lilly became the first healthcare company to achieve a $1 trillion market valuation.

Meanwhile, Nvidia has become the world’s most valuable company, recently surpassing a $5 trillion market cap in 2025. Its partnership with Lilly is the latest in a series of investments and collaborations across the AI sector, some of which have prompted concerns on Wall Street about a potential AI investment bubble.

Within healthcare, Nvidia has also backed biotech company Recursion and formed alliances with several major players in the field, including Lilly’s competitor Novo Nordisk, the Mayo Clinic, Illumina, and IQVIA, all aiming to leverage AI in medical research and innovation.

“Artificial intelligence is reshaping every sector, but its most significant influence will be in the life sciences,” Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated on Monday.

Industry Leadership at CES

Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivered remarks at the annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas on January 6. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images)