OpenAI lobbies for expanded AI role in life sciences

Advances in AI's ability to take on novel scientific work are helping researchers move faster, connect siloed knowledge, and design treatments more efficiently, according to a new report from OpenAI's policy, research and sciences team. The life sciences have saved hundreds of millions of lives over the past century, but progress has slowed dramatically—even as the toughest diseases remain unsolved. "Eroom's Law"—Moore's Law in reverse—holds that scientific research slows as knowledge accumulates, because each new generation of scientists must spend more time just absorbing what came before. AI can speed up drug discovery, design new tools itself and automate labs to compress experiments from months to days, OpenAI says. One analysis estimated that these tools could cut clinical-phase timelines by more than 20 percent. GPT-5 Pro, OpenAI argues, can find new uses for FDA-approved drugs in diseases that still lack solid treatments.