Alphabet’s Isomorphic Labs is in talks to raise roughly $5 billion in new funding at a valuation of around $50 billion, Bloomberg reported on November 4, in what would rank among the largest private rounds ever raised by an AI company.

The talks, described by Bloomberg as citing people familiar with the matter, come less than six months after the AI drug discovery startup closed a $2.1 billion round in May. The financing has not closed, and the terms could still change before anything is signed, according to the reports.

What was reported

The new development is the size of the round itself. In October, Bloomberg reported that Isomorphic Labs was in early talks to raise new funds at a valuation of at least $40 billion, with one person saying it could reach $50 billion, but neither the round size nor the investors involved had been reported at the time, Dealroom noted.

Isomorphic Labs spun out of Google DeepMind in 2021 and is run by DeepMind co-founder and CEO Demis Hassabis, who won the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for AlphaFold, the protein-structure model that underpins the company’s pitch. The company applies AI to drug design, using its IsoDDE platform to automate the discovery of cellular binding pockets for potential medicines, according to TechFundingNews.

Demis Hassabis, CEO of Isomorphic Labs
Image: Isomorphic Labs

Its pharma partnerships are the closest thing it has to revenue on the horizon. Eli Lilly signed on in January 2024 for $45 million upfront with up to $1.7 billion in milestone payments, and Novartis committed up to $2.9 billion in combined milestones alongside Lilly, money that only materializes if drug candidates clear specific hurdles. Johnson & Johnson joined as a partner in 2026 on undisclosed terms. Hassabis has said the company expects its first clinical trials, in oncology, by the end of 2026.

Why it matters

A ~$5 billion raise at a ~$50 billion valuation would put Isomorphic Labs in rare company among private AI startups and would mark a sharp markup from the roughly $17.5 billion valuation previously attached to the company. It also prices the business ahead of any clinical proof: the company has yet to put an AI-designed drug into a human being, and its first patients are only now being targeted for this year.

Isomorphic Labs funding talks key facts
Graphic: GPTOnline, using Isomorphic Labs assets

The raise, if completed, would land at a moment when AI-adjacent drug companies are being priced as much on narrative momentum as on delivered results. McKinsey estimates that headline deal values between AI companies and the 20 largest drugmakers doubled in 2025 to $29.5 billion, though only about 2% of that was paid upfront. For Isomorphic Labs, the talks are a bet that its AI platform can translate into real medicines, and the clinical data to prove or disprove that bet is now just months away.

Sources

  • Techmeme, “Sources: Google DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs is in talks to raise ~$5B at a ~$50B valuation”, via Bloomberg, November 4, 2026 (techmeme.com)
  • AI News Hub, “Isomorphic Labs in Talks for About $5 Billion in Funding”, November 5, 2026 (aienews.org)
  • Dealroom, “DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs eyes $40B valuation, up from $2.1B round in May”, October 9, 2026 (dealroom.co)
  • TechFundingNews, “DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs eyes $40B valuation less than five months after $2.1B round: Report”, October 9, 2026 (techfundingnews.com)
  • Longbridge, “Google DeepMind’s London AI drug spinout eyes $50bn valuation”, October 8, 2026 (longbridge.com)