Microsoft will use AI to supercharge Novartis' giant drug-development engine

Microsoft has reached a deal with pharmaceutical giant Novartis that aims to bring the power of artificial intelligence to drug discovery. "AI is perhaps the most transformational technology of our time, and healthcare is perhaps AI's most pressing application," Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a video announcing the partnership. The five-year deal will establish an "AI innovation lab" at Novartis and create co-working centers at Novartis' offices in Switzerland and Dublin, and at the Microsoft Research Lab in Cambridge, England. The idea is to arm Novartis' employees with the AI and cloud computing firepower needed to discover next-generation medicines. Tech rivals Google and Amazon are also vying to convince researchers and drugmakers to use their AI and cloud platforms to solve complicated scientific problems.