Nvidia has launched a medical and scientific AI research group at its Israeli development center, led by Nati Daniel, as part of expanding Israel operations beyond core chip engineering.

Israel was chosen for its strong AI and medical research ecosystem, with Nvidia pursuing collaborations with local institutions to bolster the effort.

The initiative signals Nvidia’s broader push to integrate AI research with practical scientific and medical applications, extending beyond immediate product development.

The company is investing roughly $1.5 billion to build a data center at Mevo Carmel near Yokneam and a $500 million server farm at Ramot Menashe, targeting up to 100 MW to support genomic model training.

Projects include a genomic foundation model (gFM) developed with Sheba Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital to explore the largely unmapped portions of the human genome for disease prevention, diagnostics, and personalized treatments.

GENMAT, a European Union Horizon project with a €6 million grant, aims to develop AI tools for accelerating materials discovery across aviation, automotive, and pharmaceutical sectors.

Initial recruitment is underway, with plans to hire dozens of researchers in Tel Aviv and establish collaborations with external institutions as part of the CTO office’s broader operations.

Nvidia is partnering with Eli Lilly on a global AI drug discovery initiative, planning about $1 billion in five-year investment to apply AI across genomics, chemistry, biology, and cellular contexts.

The Israeli expansion occurs even as US export controls on advanced AI chips constrain planning in other markets.

Nvidia’s Israeli headcount has more than doubled since acquiring Mellanox, now over 5,000 staff across seven research centers, with Israel contributing about 20% of group revenue.

Nvidia opened a 3,000 square meter R&D center in Beersheba and plans to grow the Kiryat Tiv’on campus to over 10,000 employees by decade’s end, underscoring Israel as a northern AI hub.

The Israeli initiative blends CTO office leadership with medical institution collaborations and both in-house and external research partnerships.