Nvidia launches Israel AI lab to develop drugs and drive medical breakthroughs

Nvidia launches Israel AI lab to develop drugs and drive medical breakthroughs

By Sophie Shulman, Calcalist
Publication Date: 2026-09-23 04:56:00

Nvidia has established a new research group in Israel aimed at using artificial intelligence to accelerate medical and scientific breakthroughs, Calcalist has learned, marking another expansion of the chip giant’s research and development operations in the country.
The group was created by Nvidia Chief Technology Officer Michael Kagan and operates from the company’s Israeli development center as part of its global CTO office, which Kagan leads. A co-founder of Israeli networking company Mellanox, which Nvidia acquired in 2020, Kagan is one of the company’s most senior Israeli executives and reports directly to founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
From right: Nvidia CTO Michael Kagan, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, and new group head Nati Daniel

From right: Nvidia CTO Michael Kagan, Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang, and new group head Nati Daniel

(Photo: Nati Daniel; Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg)

The new unit, called Applied AI Architecture, currently employs several researchers in Israel. Nvidia plans to recruit dozens more over the coming year and has already posted several research positions for its Tel Aviv offices.

The group is headed by Dr. Nati Daniel, who holds a doctorate in artificial intelligence from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology and previously held senior positions at Intel, GE and Huawei.

AI aimed at long-term scientific discovery

The group’s mandate is broader than developing products for immediate commercial use. Nvidia intends it to explore how AI can become a practical engine for scientific and medical discovery, with long-term research…