Lilly partners with NVIDIA to build the industry's most powerful AI supercomputer, supercharging medicine discovery and delivery for patients

Rhea-AI Summary

Eli Lilly (NYSE: LLY) announced on October 28, 2025 a collaboration with NVIDIA to build the industry's most powerful pharmaceutical-owned supercomputer: the world's first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX B300 systems.

The system is powered by more than 1,000 B300 GPUs on a unified networking fabric and will run an "AI factory" to support discovery, training on millions of experiments, high-volume inference, medical imaging, manufacturing digital twins, and enterprise AI agents. Select models will be shared via Lilly TuneLab. Lilly said the system will run on 100% renewable electricity within existing facilities and use chilled water liquid cooling.

Positive

• World-first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX B300 systems
• Infrastructure uses more than 1,000 B300 GPUs on a unified fabric
• AI factory enables training on millions of experiments
• 100% renewable electricity operation within existing Lilly facilities

Negative

• Company cautioned no guarantee the supercomputer or AI factory will deliver expected benefits

Insights

AI & Pharma Infrastructure Expert

Lilly and NVIDIA built a large, in‑house AI supercomputer to accelerate drug discovery, development, and related workflows.

The announcement describes a purpose‑built "AI factory" powered by the world's first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX B300 systems and more than 1,000 B300 GPUs on a unified networking fabric. That infrastructure will let scientists train and run proprietary models on large internal experiment datasets, support federated access via Lilly TuneLab, and extend to imaging, manufacturing digital twins, and enterprise AI agents.

Realizing value depends on successful integration of models with experimental workflows, data quality and governance, and operationalizing high‑volume inference. The release explicitly cautions there is no guarantee the supercomputer or AI factory will deliver the expected benefits, and it notes sustainability measures (100% renewable electricity and existing chilled water cooling) already planned.

Watch for concrete outputs and timelines disclosed by the company such as model availability on Lilly TuneLab, presentations like the Oct. 28, 2025 GTC session, and any disclosed metrics on model performance, time‑to‑candidate reductions, or manufacturing uptime improvements over the next 12–24 months.

New AI capabilities will help scientists identify, optimize and validate new molecules

Additional applications include manufacturing, medical imaging and enterprise AI agents

INDIANAPOLIS, Oct. 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced it is building the most powerful supercomputer owned and operated by a pharmaceutical company, in collaboration with NVIDIA. The supercomputer will power an "AI factory," a specialized computing infrastructure that manages the entire AI lifecycle from data ingestion and training to fine-tuning and high-volume inference.

"Lilly's mission is to make life better for people around the world, and today that requires excellence not just in science but also in technology," said Diogo Rau, executive vice president and chief information and digital officer at Lilly. "I don't believe any other company in our industry is doing what we do at this scale. As a 150-year-old medicine company, one of our most powerful assets is decades of data. With purpose-built AI models and AI, we can set a new scientific standard that accelerates innovation to deliver medicines to more patients, faster."

The supercomputer is the world's first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX B300 systems. It is powered by more than 1,000 B300 GPUs on a unified networking fabric, which means communication across GPUs, storage and related systems runs on just one high-speed network.

Transforming science at scale for real-world impact
The new supercomputer and AI factory enable rapid learning and iteration. Scientists will be able to train AI models on millions of experiments to test potential medicines, dramatically expanding the scope and sophistication of drug discovery efforts. A number of these proprietary AI models will be available on Lilly TuneLab, a collaborative federated AI/ML drug discovery platform created to expand access to advanced discovery tools across the biopharma ecosystem. TuneLab will continue evolving its suite of available models, including the addition of workflows that incorporate select NVIDIA Clara open-source models.

Beyond discovery, Lilly plans to leverage the supercomputer to shorten development cycles and help get medicines to people faster. New scientific AI agents can support researchers in reasoning, planning and collaborating across digital and physical environments. With advanced medical imaging, scientists benefit from a clearer view of how diseases progress and can develop new biomarkers for more personalized care. Manufacturing processes can benefit from digital twins together with NVIDIA's robotic technologies to improve production efficiency and reduce downtime.

"The AI industrial revolution will have its most profound impact on medicine, transforming how we understand biology," said Kimberly Powell, vice president of health care at NVIDIA. "Modern AI factories are becoming the new instrument of science — enabling the shift from trial-and-error discovery to a more intentional design of medicines. With its deep scientific heritage and commitment to innovation, Lilly stands as a global leader at the forefront of this new era of medical discovery."

"Lilly is shifting from using AI as a tool to embracing it as a scientific collaborator," said Thomas Fuchs, senior vice president and chief AI officer at Lilly. "By embedding intelligence into every layer of our workflows, we're opening the door to a new kind of enterprise: one that learns, adapts and improves with every data point. This isn't just about speed, but rather interrogating biology at scale, deepening our understanding of disease and translating that knowledge into meaningful advances for people served by Lilly medicines as well as the broader life sciences ecosystem."

In accordance with Lilly's existing sustainability commitments, including carbon neutrality by 2030, the supercomputer will run on 100% renewable electricity within existing Lilly facilities and use Lilly's existing chilled water infrastructure for liquid cooling.

Lilly's presentation, "Enterprise-Scale AI for Drug Discovery: Strategy, Infrastructure and Outcomes," will take place today at NVIDIA's AI conference GTC in Washington, D.C.

Explore technology careers at Lilly here.

A bout Lilly
Lilly is a medicine company turning science into healing to make life better for people around the world. We've been pioneering life-changing discoveries for nearly 150 years, and today our medicines help tens of millions of people across the globe. Harnessing the power of biotechnology, chemistry and genetic medicine, our scientists are urgently advancing new discoveries to solve some of the world's most significant health challenges: redefining diabetes care; treating obesity and curtailing its most devastating long-term effects; advancing the fight against Alzheimer's disease; providing solutions to some of the most debilitating immune system disorders; and transforming the most difficult-to-treat cancers into manageable diseases. With each step toward a healthier world, we're motivated by one thing: making life better for millions more people. That includes delivering innovative clinical trials that reflect the diversity of our world and working to ensure our medicines are accessible and affordable. To learn more, visit Lilly.com and Lilly.com/news, or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. C-LLY

Trademarks and Trade Names
All trademarks or trade names referred to in this press release are the property of the company, or, to the extent trademarks or trade names belonging to other companies are references in this press release, the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, the trademarks and trade names in this press release are referred to without the ® and ™ symbols, but such references should not be construed as any indicator that the company or, to the extent applicable, their respective owners will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, the company's or their rights thereto. We do not intend the use or display of other companies' trademarks and trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) about Lilly's investment in a supercomputer, the potential abilities, performance, applications, and outcomes from AI and other initiatives and reflects Lilly's current beliefs and expectations. The words "will", "believe", "plan", "may", "could", "can", and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. However, as with any such undertaking, there are substantial risks and uncertainties in implementing technology and in the process of drug research, development, and commercialization. Among other things, there can be no guarantee that Lilly will realize the expected benefits of the supercomputer or the AI factory, that the supercomputer or the AI factory will achieve the results discussed in this release or that the supercomputer or AI factory will yield commercially successful products. For further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from Lilly's expectations, see Lilly's Form 10-K and Form 10-Q filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this release.

Refer to:           Kristen Basu; kbasu@lilly.com; 317-447-2199 (Media)
                          Michael Czapar; czapar_michael_c@lilly.com; 317-617-0983 (Investors)

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SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company

FAQ

What did Eli Lilly (LLY) announce on October 28, 2025 regarding AI infrastructure?

Eli Lilly announced a partnership with NVIDIA to build the industry's most powerful pharma-owned supercomputer, the first NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD with DGX B300 systems.

How many GPUs power Lilly's new supercomputer (LLY)?

The supercomputer is powered by more than 1,000 B300 GPUs on a unified networking fabric.

What is Lilly TuneLab and how does it relate to the LLY supercomputer?

TuneLab is Lilly's federated AI/ML drug discovery platform; select proprietary models and workflows will be available through TuneLab.

How will Lilly (LLY) use the supercomputer beyond drug discovery?

Lilly plans to use it for medical imaging, manufacturing digital twins, enterprise AI agents, and shortening development cycles.

Will Lilly's supercomputer meet sustainability commitments for LLY?

Yes; Lilly said the system will run on 100% renewable electricity within existing Lilly facilities and use chilled water liquid cooling.

Does Lilly (LLY) guarantee the supercomputer will produce commercially successful medicines?

No; the company included a cautionary statement that there is no guarantee the supercomputer or AI factory will achieve the expected results or yield commercially successful products.