AI at the Frontier
of Living Systems
AI Biotechnologies was founded in 2017 to prove that machine intelligence and biological science are stronger together — and that their combination can solve problems medicine has struggled with for generations.
From Vision to Research Reality
In 2017, Philip Odegard recognized that biology had generated more data than human researchers could ever interpret — and that artificial intelligence was the only tool powerful enough to make sense of it. He founded AI Biotechnologies under the Odegard Foundation to bridge that gap.
The mission was straightforward: fund and conduct research that uses AI to accelerate the discovery of drugs, understand how proteins fold, decode genomic signals of disease, and automate the physical work of the laboratory.
Today, AI Biotechnologies operates programs across four core research pillars, collaborating with academic institutions, clinical research partners, and technology organizations to ensure that AI-powered biotech discovery reaches the patients who need it most.
Philip Odegard founded AI Biotechnologies in 2017 as part of the Odegard Foundation's broader mission of using science and technology to improve human life. With a vision of marrying computational intelligence with biological research, Philip established the organization to fund programs that neither traditional biotech nor pure AI research would pursue alone.
Legal name: AI Biotechnologies
Founded: 2017
Type: Nonprofit Research Organization
Parent initiative: Odegard Foundation
Contact: [email protected]
How We Work
Three principles guide every research investment and partnership decision we make.
We treat AI as a means to scientific discovery — not a commercial product. Our models and pipelines are built to advance understanding of biology, not to generate proprietary IP for profit.
Science accelerates when findings are shared. We publish results, collaborate with academic and clinical institutions, and contribute computational tools to the broader research community wherever possible.
Every program we fund is evaluated against one question: does this bring better treatments closer to patients? Speed and cost efficiency are valuable because they ultimately mean more people helped, sooner.