Former OpenAI leader launches AI-driven biotech firm to study chronic illness blood samples

Fidji Simo, a former senior executive at OpenAI, founded ChronicleBio to harness AI for the analysis of blood samples from individuals suffering chronic diseases like Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. In its first year the company performed 890 draws from 709 patients in Utah, Arizona, Texas and India, amassing a biobank of more than 3,500 tubes and extracting 153 terabytes of data—far exceeding the training set of early GPT models.

ChronicleBio’s co-founders, all personally affected by chronic illness, aim to uncover distinct biological sub-diseases hidden within shared symptom profiles, thereby enabling more targeted drug testing. Starting August 11, the firm will launch a mobile phlebotomy service that will travel to participants’ homes, providing free in-depth health reports to the initial 250 volunteers while collecting their data for research.

Simo continues to advise OpenAI and remains in contact with its leadership team. The ultimate goal is to use the gathered insights to guide pharmaceutical partners toward effective therapies for each identified sub-group.