Kevin Weil Leaves OpenAI and Launches Warp Sciences With $215 Million for Drug Discovery

Stealth Exit and a $215 Million Round

Kevin Weil, who led OpenAI's efforts to apply artificial intelligence to science, founded Warp Sciences, which emerged from stealth mode on October 22, 2026. This was the company's first public announcement: the startup builds automated laboratories that combine artificial intelligence, robotics, and life sciences to accelerate a key stage of drug discovery. In an investment round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, the company raised $215 million — valuing it at $865 million after the new funding. According to the company press release and a Bloomberg Law report, Warp Sciences has no proprietary drug pipeline of its own — it builds infrastructure solely for research teams. The announcement spread on October 22 simultaneously through the company press release and independent publications.

The press release published on October 22 says the laboratories will combine artificial intelligence, robotics, and life sciences. In the same release, Warp Sciences confirmed it will not create its own drug pipeline — the company builds infrastructure only for research teams.

Round Participants

Lightspeed Venture Partners led the $215 million round. IVP, Premji Invest, and Lux Capital also participated. The list of angel investors joining the round is quite long: Reid Hoffman, Dylan Field, Brian Armstrong, Mike Krieger, Parag Agrawal, Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar, and Weil's former OpenAI colleagues — Fidji Simo, Mark Chen, Sarah Friar, Srinivas Narayanan, and Kate Rouch. The round thus included both major venture funds and individual investors from the technology industry.

The former OpenAI colleagues were noted separately: Fidji Simo, Mark Chen, Sarah Friar, Srinivas Narayanan, and Kate Rouch also joined the round. Reid Hoffman, Dylan Field, Brian Armstrong, Mike Krieger, and Parag Agrawal participated as individual investors, with Palantir CTO Shyam Sankar also among the investors.

Kevin Weil's Path at OpenAI

Weil worked at OpenAI for nearly two years. He first served as chief product officer, leading the ChatGPT, Codex, and API teams, then headed the OpenAI for Science division that created the GPT-Rosalind chemistry model. He left OpenAI on April 17, 2026. According to Startup Fortune, Warp Sciences is his first independent project after OpenAI. His final role at OpenAI was precisely applying artificial intelligence to scientific research, and the new company continues in that direction: Warp Sciences aims to accelerate drug discovery with artificial intelligence.

Weil previously led the ChatGPT, Codex, and API teams — these were OpenAI's core product areas. He then moved to the company's scientific track, heading the OpenAI for Science division that created the GPT-Rosalind chemistry model.

What Warp Sciences Is Building

According to the company press release, Warp Sciences is building scientific infrastructure in the United States. The automated laboratories combine artificial intelligence, robotics, and life sciences and are designed to help the world discover new medicines faster. Importantly, the company does not develop its own drugs — it creates only infrastructure for research teams. In other words, Warp Sciences intends to operate not as a drug manufacturer, but as a research infrastructure operator.

Weil believes artificial intelligence has achieved dramatic acceleration in software engineering and mathematics, but has not yet had such an impact in the physical sciences. He says generating real-world data at scale is necessary for building more science-capable artificial intelligence:

"Artificial intelligence has dramatically accelerated software engineering and mathematics, but it has not yet had such an impact in the physical sciences," Weil told MoneyControl. He added that generating real-world data at scale is necessary for more science-capable artificial intelligence.

Warp Sciences' laboratories are reportedly being built in the US — for now, this infrastructure targets research teams in the US.

The press release says the laboratories are being built to help the world discover new medicines faster. The company has named accelerating the key stage of drug discovery as its main mission.

Founding Team

Warp Sciences has four founders. Besides Kevin Weil, DJ Patil has joined the team as chief operating officer (COO) — he was the first chief data scientist of the White House and one of the founding executives of Devoted Health. Solomon Reisberg previously held a leadership role at Terremoto Biosciences, and Manohar Paluri was part of the leadership of Meta's artificial intelligence research. The founding team thus brings together both executives from major technology companies and specialists who led government-level data projects.

DJ Patil was the first chief data scientist of the White House and, as one of Devoted Health's founding executives, also has experience in healthcare. Solomon Reisberg led the biotechnology company Terremoto Biosciences, while Manohar Paluri was part of the leadership of Meta's artificial intelligence research.