A new AI model is opening the black box of the leading artificial intelligence tool for predicting how proteins will interact with small molecules, such as drugs.
The model, OpenFold3, which launched October 28, is a reconstruction of Google DeepMind’s AlphaFold3. A large consortium of researchers led by Mohammed AlQuraishi at Columbia University painstakingly dissected AlphaFold3’s code and created a facsimile of the AI platform, which predicts the structure of proteins paired with other molecules, including nucleic acids and chemicals in drugs. AlphaFold3 can only be used by individuals, non-commercial organizations or journalists. But companies — and anyone else — can use the open-source OpenFold3 model for commercial purposes,