NVIDIA Unveils Evo 2 AI System for Genetic Research

NVIDIA NVDA has launched Evo 2, a cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) system focused on revolutionizing the field of biological research.

What Happened: On Wednesday, Nvidia announced its new AI model, Evo 2, which is designed to accelerate breakthroughs in genetics and medicine by quickly analyzing and generating genetic codes from various life forms. Nvidia stated that this initiative offers valuable insights into DNA, RNA, and proteins from a wide range of species. Many experts are now viewing Evo 2 as the most extensive AI system ever created for biological research.

This ambitious project is being developed on the NVIDIA DGX Cloud platform in collaboration with Stanford University and the Arc Institute, a nonprofit research center, with an investment of $650 million.

With Evo 2, researchers can expect a significant reduction in the time traditionally required for manual data analysis. The system has been trained with nearly 9 trillion nucleotides, or genetic data points, spanning over 128,000 diverse organisms including bacteria, plants, and humans.

In preliminary tests, Evo 2 successfully identified 90% of potentially harmful mutations in the BRCA1 gene, which is linked to breast cancer. This advanced model utilized 2,000 Nvidia H100 processors operating on Amazon's AMZN cloud platform, specifically Amazon Web Services.

Nvidia indicates that Evo 2 may also play a vital role in healthcare and drug discovery by analyzing gene variants. Furthermore, insights gained from this system regarding plant biology could assist scientists in developing climate-resistant crop varieties, addressing the urgent issue of global food shortages.

Why It Matters

The introduction of Evo 2 supports Nvidia's ongoing goals in the healthcare and biomedical sectors as the company aims to diversify its revenue streams.

Earlier this year, Nvidia formed partnerships with Johnson & Johnson JNJ to harness generative AI for surgical applications and with GE Healthcare, a segment of General Electric Co GE, to improve medical imaging services. The chip manufacturer has launched nearly two dozen AI-focused tools aimed at healthcare, and invested $50 million in 2023 in Recursion, a biotech firm specializing in AI-driven drug discovery.

Additionally, top analyst Dan Ives from Wedbush predicted that NVIDIA could achieve a market capitalization of $4 trillion, similar to Apple Inc. AAPL, despite facing tariff challenges and rising competition from China's DeepSeek. The analyst remains optimistic about AI stocks, highlighting what he sees as skepticism from critics about AI's immense potential. The launch of Evo 2 emphasizes this potential and Nvidia's pivotal role in the ongoing AI transformation.

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NVIDIA, AI, Genetics