Jeff Dean, one of Google’s longest-serving and most influential researchers, is leaving the company after 27 years to co-found Discovery Loop, an AI startup focused on automating scientific and engineering research. Discovery Loop is structured as a public benefit corporation and aims to build AI systems capable of running thousands of experiments in parallel. Discovery Loop plans to use large-scale computing and AI to run many of those processes simultaneously. The company is also interested in applying the same approach to machine learning research, where AI systems could help improve subsequent generations of AI. Discovery Loop plans to focus on systems that can automate entire experimental cycles rather than using AI only to analyse existing research.