Novo Nordisk and OpenAI are partnering to accelerate the search for new medications, the company announced in a Tuesday press release. The goal is to bring new and better treatment options to patients faster, according to multiple reports. Within the partnership, Novo Nordisk will use advanced AI capabilities to analyze datasets, identify drug candidates, and speed up research timelines.
The company has reassured that data will be protected and the partnership will be overseen by humans to ensure ethical and compliant use. Novo Nordisk will also use OpenAI's technology to improve manufacturing, supply chain, distribution, and corporate operations. Pilot programs within the partnership will be fully integrated by the end of the year.
The partnership comes amid growing interest in GLP-1 drugs, a class that includes Novo Nordisk's Wegovy. S. adults said they are taking a GLP-1 drug for weight loss, diabetes, or another chronic condition, according to a KFF poll from last November.
6 percent stopped taking weight-loss drugs because of side effects. In other developments, Amazon announced a major expansion of its partnership with OpenAI on Tuesday. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said the collaboration with Amazon Web Services involves co-developing a new platform for AI agents.
Meanwhile, Microsoft said Monday it will no longer pay a share of its revenue to OpenAI. OpenAI will continue to pay Microsoft a share of its revenue through 2030, though the rate will be capped. Microsoft remains the primary cloud computing partner for OpenAI, and OpenAI products will ship first on Azure unless Microsoft cannot support the necessary capabilities.
OpenAI also introduced AI-generated pets in its Codex app. The optional pets float as a layer on top of programs to answer questions, similar to Clippy. They do not write code but act as status updaters, informing about Codex's current work, task completion, or need for user input.
Users can summon a pet by typing the command /pet in the Codex app. There are eight preset figures to choose from, and the /hatch command generates a new figure using AI. Additionally, OpenAI launched a new subscription called ChatGPT Pro for $100 per month, offering five times more Codex usage than ChatGPT Plus.
Other collaborations include Yubico entering a new partnership with OpenAI, according to a report. OpenAI is also reportedly designing a smartphone chip in collaboration with MediaTek or Qualcomm, according to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The collaboration will combine ChatGPT, Codex, and Atlas, according to reports.