PLUS: PayPal brings shopping to ChatGPT and NVIDIA releases new open-source AI models
Pharmaceutical giant Lilly is deploying the world's largest AI system dedicated to drug discovery, a massive leap in computational power for medical research. The new AI factory, powered by NVIDIA's latest technology, aims to accelerate breakthroughs in medicine by training large biomedical models on proprietary data.
The move solidifies Lilly's strategy to become an AI-native leader in the pharmaceutical space. Does this signal a new era where custom-built AI factories become the standard for solving the industry's most complex scientific problems?
In today’s Next in AI:
Lilly launches world's largest drug discovery AI
PayPal brings shopping to ChatGPT
The great AI chip shortage worsens
The rise of 'agentic commerce'
Pharma's AI Revolution
Next in AI: Pharmaceutical giant Lilly is deploying the world's largest AI factory dedicated to drug discovery, using a new NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with over 1,000 Blackwell Ultra GPUs to accelerate breakthroughs in medicine.
Decoded:
Lilly will train large biomedical models on its proprietary data, then offer select models to partners through its TuneLab platform, which also provides access to NVIDIA Clara open foundation models.
The factory’s impact extends beyond research, using digital twins to optimize manufacturing and deploying AI-driven robotics with platforms like NVIDIA Isaac to improve supply chain reliability.
This system represents an immense leap in computing power, with a single Blackwell Ultra GPU containing the processing equivalent of 7 million Cray supercomputers from 1992.
Why It Matters: This move solidifies Lilly's strategy to become an AI-native pharmaceutical leader, turning its massive proprietary data sets into a core asset for innovation. It also signals a larger trend where customized AI factories are becoming the new standard for tackling complex, industrial-scale scientific challenges.
ChatGPT's New Wallet
Next in AI: OpenAI and PayPal are teaming up to embed digital payments directly into ChatGPT. The move allows users to go from conversation to checkout in a few taps, creating a new way to shop with AI.
Decoded:
The partnership introduces what PayPal calls agentic commerce, turning ChatGPT into a personal shopper that can find products and complete purchases for you.
This integration is planned to be available in 2026 and will connect PayPal’s network of over 400 million users with millions of merchants worldwide.
Payments will support multiple funding options, include PayPal’s buyer protections, and you can join the waitlist to see how it works.
Why It Matters: This partnership moves AI assistants from being simple information retrievers to active agents that can transact on your behalf. It represents a significant step in merging conversational AI with e-commerce, potentially changing how we shop online.
The Great AI Chip Shortage
Next in AI: Surging demand for AI has sent key NVIDIA supplier SK Hynix's profits soaring by 62%. The company just announced its critical high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips are already completely sold out through 2026.
Decoded:
SK Hynix now dominates the critical HBM market with a 64% share, recently overtaking Samsung to become the top DRAM supplier for the first time.
Competitors are racing to catch up, with Micron already supplying HBM to NVIDIA and Samsung recently passing qualification for its advanced HBM products.
The demand reflects explosive growth in the sector, with the global HBM market seeing 178% year-over-year growth in the second quarter alone.
Why It Matters: The hardware powering the AI boom remains a significant bottleneck. This intense demand is fueling a high-stakes race for innovation and market share among chip suppliers that will define the next wave of AI capabilities.
AI Pulse
Gloo expanded into Silicon Valley, with new executive chairman and ex-Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger leading its mission to build AI assistants aligned with Christian values.
xAI launched Grokipedia, an AI-generated online encyclopedia positioned as a competitor to Wikipedia, which reportedly pulls much of its content directly from the site it aims to replace.
NVIDIA partnered with the University of Utah on a $50M initiative to build the state’s first AI factory, aimed at accelerating research in healthcare and other scientific fields.
U.S. Senators introduced the GUARD Act, a bipartisan bill that would ban anyone under 18 from using AI chatbots and require age verification for all users.