For the past decade, Dr. Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg have supported a variety of philanthropic causes, including underprivileged schools, immigration reform, and diversity initiatives. However, the couple is now shifting most of their giving to Biohub, their science organization, with a focus on using artificial intelligence to advance biomedical research.
Their new strategy aims to develop AI-based virtual cell models to better understand human biology and use these tools for disease detection and treatment. Zuckerberg explained at an event in Redwood City that they believe Biohub has had the greatest impact among their projects: “I feel like the science work that we’ve done, the Biohub model in particular, has been the most impactful thing that we have done. So we want to really double down on that. Biohub is going to be the main focus of our philanthropy going forward.”
Biohub operates institutes in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and California’s Redwood City, each focusing on different scientific challenges. Since its founding in 2016, Chan and Zuckerberg have donated $4 billion to basic science research through Biohub and plan to double this amount over the next decade with an annual operating budget of about $1 billion.
The couple has pledged 99% of their wealth from Meta Platforms stock toward these efforts. Their decision comes as federal funding for scientific research has decreased in recent years.
Singer Billie Eilish recently called on wealthy individuals at an event attended by Chan and Zuckerberg to contribute more towards solving global problems: “Love you all, but there’s a few people in here who have a lot more money than me,” she said. “And if you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire? And no hate, but give your money away, shorties.”
Recently, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative faced criticism after reducing funding for programs related to diversity and immigration advocacy earlier this year. The couple says this shift towards science began before recent political changes: “So we basically looked at the ecosystem of science funding and decided that the place that we can make the biggest impact was on tool development,” said Zuckerberg. “And specifically working on long-term projects, 10 to 15 years, where the output of them was taking on a biological challenge that would produce a tool that scientists everywhere could use to accelerate the pace of science.”
Earlier this year references to diversity initiatives were removed from their website.
Zuckerberg and Chan clarified their intentions moving forward: “Going forward, Biohub will be our primary philanthropic effort and where we’ll dedicate the vast majority of our resources,” they wrote in a blog post. “We will continue our other philanthropic efforts as well, but the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will serve as infrastructure and support for our initiatives.”
Chan reflected on her experience treating children with rare diseases: “Until now, that kind of understanding has been out of reach. AI is changing that. For the first time, we have the potential to model and predict the biology of disease in ways that can reveal what’s gone wrong and how we can develop new treatments to address it,” she said.
On Thursday it was announced that Biohub hired EvolutionaryScale’s team — an AI research lab focused on large-scale life sciences systems — with co-founder Alex Rives becoming head of science at Biohub.
Biohub plans to create open-source digital representations of human physiology so researchers worldwide can conduct virtual experiments not possible in physical labs.
Chan highlighted accomplishments such as building major single-cell datasets and sensors measuring inflammation in real-time within living cells. Their work will continue with an emphasis on using AI for further advances in biomedical research.
