EvolutionaryScale, a startup focused on developing AI models for protein generation in scientific research, has secured $142 million in funding led by ex-GitHub CEO Nat Friedman, Daniel Gross, and Lux Capital. Their latest AI model, ESM3, aims to revolutionize biology by creating proteins for drug discovery and material science. By training on a dataset of 2.78 billion proteins, ESM3 can generate new proteins by analyzing sequence, structure, and function, similar to Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold. The startup aims to monetize through partnerships, usage fees, and revenue-sharing arrangements with pharmaceutical companies and researchers. EvolutionaryScale plans to bring ESM3 to AWS and Nvidia customers for further development. Despite facing competition, such as DeepMind’s Isomorphic Labs, EvolutionaryScale is betting on scaling up its model training to create a general AI model for biotech applications. The company's ambitious goals and strong financial backing position it as a key player in the evolving field of AI-driven protein design.