Eli Lilly and Company has launched what it calls the world’s largest and most powerful AI-driven factory for drug discovery, powered by NVIDIA’s Blackwell-based DGX SuperPOD. The system is designed to accelerate the development of new medicines by harnessing the full potential of artificial intelligence across every stage of the drug discovery and manufacturing process. “Machinery downtime can mean significant delays in getting patients the medicines they rely on,” said Dr. Thomas Fuchs, Lilly’s Chief Scientific Officer. “We’re focused on optimizing systems and driving toward peak performance using AI.” The new AI infrastructure is a key part of Lilly’s strategy to transform pharmaceutical innovation through intelligent automation and data-driven decision-making. Lilly is leveraging NVIDIA’s Isaac platform to deploy intelligent robotics in its labs and production facilities, modernizing the way therapeutics are developed and manufactured. NVIDIA Isaac Sim enables developers to simulate and test AI-powered robotic systems in virtual environments before deploying them in real-world settings, ensuring faster, safer integration into complex pharmaceutical workflows. In parallel, Lilly is using NVIDIA NeMo, a powerful AI framework, to build AI agents capable of reasoning, planning, and acting across both digital and physical lab environments. These agents can continuously explore vast chemical spaces, propose novel molecular structures, simulate treatments in silico, and guide experimental testing in vitro—tasks that would take humans far longer to complete. “AI agents can work 24/7 and explore ideas that humans might not have the time or capacity to experiment with,” said Dr. Rau, a senior leader in Lilly’s AI and innovation team. “At the end of the day, it’s all about human learning—not machine learning. Machines are helping make humans smarter by stimulating new ideas for new molecules.” This collaboration with NVIDIA is central to Lilly’s broader innovation strategy, which includes a $50 billion commitment to expand its U.S. manufacturing and research and development footprint. The investment includes four new facilities and a proposed $4.5 billion state-of-the-art research center in Indiana, known as the Lilly Medicine Foundry. This facility will focus on advanced manufacturing, drug development, and the integration of AI and robotics into pharmaceutical workflows. Together, these initiatives are expected to generate approximately 13,000 high-wage jobs in manufacturing and construction, with the Medicine Foundry alone creating around 500 new positions for engineers, scientists, operations specialists, and lab technicians. By combining cutting-edge AI infrastructure with large-scale physical facilities, Lilly is positioning itself at the forefront of the next generation of drug discovery and production.