Artificial intelligence giant Anthropic is pushing deeper into drug discovery, building its own molecular biology lab and investing in research that could eventually produce drug candidates, according to the company's blockbuster IPO filing.

The maker of the Claude AI platform laid out its growing ambitions in life sciences in a much-anticipated S-1 filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday, while acknowledging that its expansion into drug development brings scientific, regulatory and operational challenges that extend well beyond its traditional software business.

In the run-up to its initial public offering, Anthropic outlined its vision for what it calls “Powerful AI,” a highly capable form of artificial intelligence that the company believes could become widely available within a few years. Anthropic envisions AI systems that could match or exceed the capabilities of top human experts across scientific disciplines, perform complex tasks autonomously and operate laboratory equipment and robotic systems.

“If Powerful AI is directed at solving humanity’s hardest problems and the risks are managed responsibly, the potential is extraordinary,” Anthropic said in the filing, pointing to the possibility of “accelerating drug discovery, disease detection, and the delivery of personalized therapy” as one of the technology's potential benefits.

Anthropic is preparing to go public under the Nasdaq ticker symbol “ANT,” with an offering that could raise more than $100 billion and push its valuation toward $2 trillion, according to an August report from The New York Times . The S-1 does not yet specify an offering price or the number of shares to be sold.

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