Chai Discovery, an AI‑driven biotech startup backed by OpenAI, announced a $130 million Series B financing round that lifts its valuation to $1.3 billion. The round was led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, with participation from Menlo Ventures, OpenAI, Dimension, Thrive Capital, Neo, Yosemite venture fund, Lachy Groom, SV Angel, Glade Brook and Emerson Collective. The new capital brings the company’s total funding to over $225 million. Chai’s platform, now in its second generation (Chai 2), aims to accelerate drug discovery by using foundation models to design molecules and de‑novo antibodies, positioning the firm as a leading player in AI‑enabled biotech. Read more →

Mindstate Design Labs, backed by prominent Silicon Valley investors, has leveraged artificial intelligence to design a novel psychoactive compound that avoids classic psychedelic hallucinations. The AI platform linked biochemical data with thousands of trip reports to identify a formulation of 5-MeO-MiPT, called MSD-001, that activates serotonin‑2A receptors without producing a full "trip." In a Phase I trial with healthy volunteers, MSD‑001 was safe, well tolerated, and produced heightened emotions and perceptual changes without hallucinations. The company aims to use this "psychedelic tofu" as a base for future therapeutics targeting mood and anxiety disorders. Read more →