Latent Labs Unveils Web-Based AI for Accessible Protein Design

Six months after emerging from stealth with $50 million in funding, Latent Labs has launched a web-based AI model for programming biology.

According to CEO and founder Simon Kohl, a scientist who previously co-led DeepMind’s AlphaFold protein design team, Latent Labs' model has "achieved state-of-the-art results across various metrics" when its designed proteins were tested in a physical lab. The term "state-of-the-art" (SOTA) is commonly used in AI to indicate the highest performance standard in the industry for a specific task.

"We have computational methods to evaluate the quality of our designs," Kohl told TechCrunch, noting that a significant proportion of the proteins generated by the model prove viable in laboratory testing.

The company's foundational biology model, called LatentX, allows academic institutions, biotech startups, and pharmaceutical firms to design novel proteins directly in their browser using natural language.

LatentX moves beyond natural proteins, creating entirely new molecular designs such as nanobodies and antibodies with precise atomic structures. This approach enables the development of new therapeutics at a much faster rate.

Kohl emphasized that the ability to design completely new proteins sets LatentX apart from AlphaFold.

"AlphaFold is a model for protein structure prediction," he explained. "It helps visualize existing structures, but it doesn't generate new proteins."

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Unlike AI-driven drug discovery firms like Xaira, Recursion, or DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs, which focus on developing proprietary medicines, Latent Labs operates by licensing its model to external organizations.

"Not every company has the resources to build their own AI models, infrastructure, or teams," Kohl noted.

Although LatentX is currently available for free, Kohl said the company plans to eventually charge for advanced features and capabilities as they are rolled out.

Other companies offering open-source AI foundational models for drug discovery include Chai Discovery and EvolutionaryScale.

Latent Labs is backed by Radical Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Google’s Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, and Eleven Labs CEO Mati Staniszewski.