Anthropic has built a biology lab in the San Francisco Bay Area, Eric Koudelaer-Abrams, head of life sciences at Anthropic, told Reuters on the 19th, saying "The ultimate test in conducting biological research is actual lab work." He said the company's mission is to develop powerful AI to bring benefits to the world, adding "We see the biggest opportunity in the life sciences." Anthropic says it will avoid direct commercial competition with pharmaceutical companies, will not move into the clinical trial stage, and will focus on earlier stages, mainly discovering treatments for neglected diseases. Koudelaer-Abrams said the company is mindful of risks that AI models could be misused for developing biological weapons and will put safety measures in place. Anthropic previously unveiled Claude Science, acquired Coefficient Bio, appointed Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan to its board, and in July hired John Jumper, former principal researcher at Google DeepMind. The Financial Times reported that as Anthropic and OpenAI prepare for IPOs, investors are raising concerns about whether their growth can continue; Anthropic's annualized run-rate revenue stood at $65 billion as of July, with investors expecting it to surpass $120 billion by the end of the year, while OpenAI's capital expenditure for AI compute and data centers will reach $856 billion.