Nvidia Opens Applied AI Research Group in Israel

Nvidia has established a new research division in Israel dedicated to advancing artificial intelligence applications in medicine and scientific discovery, according to Calcalist.

The Applied AI Architecture group operates from Nvidia's Israeli development center and reports directly to the company's global CTO office, led by Michael Kagan, the Mellanox co-founder who ranks among Nvidia's most senior Israeli executives.

Research focus and leadership

Dr. Nati Daniel, who earned his PhD in artificial intelligence from the Technion and previously held senior roles at Intel, GE, and Huawei, heads the new group. The team currently includes several researchers, with plans to expand to dozens more over the next year. Multiple research positions are already posted for Nvidia's Tel Aviv offices.

Unlike commercial product teams, Applied AI Architecture pursues long-term scientific concepts that may eventually integrate into Nvidia's technology stack. The group aims to use AI not merely for process automation but to fundamentally accelerate the pace of discovery in medicine and science.

Active collaborations

The Israeli team is already engaged in several major initiatives. One project partners with Sheba Medical Center and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York to develop a Genomic Foundation Model. This effort targets the approximately 98% of the human genome that remains poorly understood, with potential applications in disease prevention, diagnostics, and personalized medicine.

The group also contributes to Nvidia's partnership with pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which involves roughly $1 billion in investment over five years. That collaboration integrates genomic and sequencing data with chemistry, biology, and cellular information to compress drug discovery timelines.

Additionally, the team participates in GENMAT, a European Union-funded initiative that received approximately €6 million from the Horizon program. GENMAT unites companies, universities, and research institutes across Europe to develop AI tools for discovering new materials in aviation, automotive, and pharmaceutical applications.

Why it matters

Nvidia's decision to place this research group within its CTO office rather than a regional product division signals strategic importance. The Israeli location leverages the country's concentration of AI talent and medical research institutions while combining in-house research with institutional partnerships—a model that distinguishes this initiative from Nvidia's other global research operations. As Nvidia's Israeli presence expands, the company's activities could materially affect the country's exports, GDP, and tax revenues.

The details were first reported by Calcalist.