ByteDance is splitting its AI pharmaceutical business and launching independent financing efforts to promote the industrialization of AI for health.

According to media reports citing informed sources, ByteDance's AI pharmaceutical business unit has officially initiated the process of splitting and independent financing. After this split is completed, ByteDance will still hold the majority stake in the new company, and the daily operation and management of the new company will be led by the ByteDance AI pharmaceutical team. The original AI pharmaceutical core team, core algorithms, technology platform, and existing pipeline assets will all be transferred to the new entity. In terms of computing power, the new company will continue to rely on support from ByteDance's volcano engine to ensure the computing power needs for AI drug research and development. It is reported that the ByteDance AI pharmaceutical team was established in 2021, led by Liu Kai, with about 50 core members consisting of AI for Science (AI4S) algorithm talents and senior pharmaceutical industry experts. Since its establishment, the team has been responsible for core functions ranging from basic model research to industrialization. Previously, the team within ByteDance responsible for protein structure prediction models has been integrated into the AI pharmaceutical team led by Liu Kai. The relevant algorithm model team has been integrated and will continue to advance research in this field of basic models, with a few personnel departing. Insiders revealed that the business split this time is to establish a more independent organizational structure that fits the characteristics of the business. ByteDance hopes to attract top talents and further drive the combination of basic model capabilities, algorithms, and the pharmaceutical industry in this field. ByteDance has laid out AI for Science for many years, and sources said that this is ByteDance's first attempt at industrializing AI for Science, which is highly valued internally. By independently separating and introducing external funding for the AI pharmaceutical business, ByteDance not only helps optimize resource allocation but also signifies that its AI for Science business is moving towards independent operation, potentially accelerating the industrialization process of AI for Science.