US chip giant Nvidia, Sheba Medical Center in Israel and Mount Sinai Hospital in the US have announced a strategic collaboration, with an investment of tens of millions of dollars. The initiative aims to harness the power of AI for genomic discovery through the application of large language model (LLM) technology and decode the majority of the human genome that remains poorly understood, to unlock new pathways for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Sheba in Tel Hashomer will contribute the clinical data and the project will be conducted at the hospital, Nvidia will contribute the computing power, infrastructure, algorithms and AI teams, and Mount Sinai will contribute genetic data from 11,000 genomes deciphered at the hospital, as part of the “Million Genomes” project that it is leading. The US hospital will also contribute the clinical data linked to those genomes. Each of the project’s three partners will assign 5-7 people to work full-time on the project, and will draw resources from the rest of the organization as needed.
Sheba director general Prof. Yitzhak Kreiss “This is a project at the forefront of science, not just health,” Prof. Yitshak Kreis tells “Globes,” “We want to create a completely new language model for the human genome. We have a lot of data, and now we have to teach the brain to read it.”
How did the collaboration come about, and how did you choose this field?
“Nvidia recognized the AI center that we founded about 18 months ago – programs like this were exactly its purpose. Nvidia’s global CTO came here to explore collaborations. Prof. Gidi Rechavi and Dr. Dan Dominissini from the hospital had already begun to dream in this direction, and they suggested to him that he embark on this grandiose project
“Deciphering the impact of non-decoded genes on health will allow us to be at the forefront of much more accurate diagnostics, drug development, and personalized medicine. The model itself will be in the public domain, but we will have initial and unique access to it, and all the intellectual property that will be created from it will be in the hands of Sheba and Mount Sinai. This could be a dramatic basis for our economic growth. We will define the project as a success if we can learn something new about disease pathways within, say, about two years. But the mere fact that Nvidia is here is also a success.”
If the IP remains in the hands of the two hospitals, what does Nvidia have to gain?
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“They can gain from promoting AI as a tool that can change the world in all areas of life.”
What exactly will they do as part of the Sheba project? Prof. Gidi Rechavi, the scientific leader of the project on behalf of the hospital, explains: “The first human genome was sequenced in 2000, but we soon discovered that genes are not what we thought. In fact, more than 98% of genes serve as part of a complex orchestra of genes whose role is probably to very precisely and delicately control the genes that express proteins. The aim of the current project is to gradually decipher the activity of these genes, first in healthy people, then in very common diseases, and then in all areas of morbidity and health.”
“Israel was a little late”
Kreiss defines AI as the greatest revolution in the field of medicine since the days of Hippocrates. “It is expected to completely change decision-making in all areas of medicine,” he says. “It already improves the interpretation of imaging tests, makes pathological diagnoses more accurate, shortens the time required for all kinds of hospital processes, and helps doctors choose treatment – but that’s nothing compared to how it will be implemented in the future. This is a revolution that requires resources – data and computing capabilities. Therefore, only strong bodies and strong organizations will be able to participate in it, let alone lead it.”
Where does Israel stand on the road to this revolution?
“Israel relies on good data resources and good talents in the digital field. But perhaps because of the last two years – and perhaps not only because of them – we have been a little late and have not built the sufficient infrastructure in the country to enable the revolution that we want to see happen in the field of AI, not only in medicine.”
What infrastructure are you talking about?
“Both physical infrastructure, computing, energy, and supporting human systems, standardization, legislation. Such a revolution requires a multi-year strategic plan, just as hospitals and roads and security and military infrastructure are built. We estimate that bringing Israel to the right place in this regard is a process that will require an investment of billions of shekels.”
Which countries are examples of sound investments in this area?
“Saudi Arabia and the UAE have invested enormous resources in the field.”
“A huge gap between the center and the periphery”
Kreiss says that the current agreement shows that what the government is not doing right now, but organizations within Israel can start to promote on their own. “We have no choice but to be at the edge of the ability of knowledge and science, with the infrastructure we already have. Because despite the crises, perhaps due to them, the entrepreneurial spirit still allows us to create leadership.”
To this end, among other things, the hospital’s ARC Innovation Center was established, which produces startups and collaborations with industry and also exports its model to worldwide. “Investment in healthcare in Israel has not grown in recent years and has actually decreased in terms of investment per capita from 7.5% to 7%, compared with an average of 10% in the OECD. The healthcare system in Israel will not grow if it is based only on what the government allocates to it. It must generate sources of growth from within itself.
“There is no obstacle for all elements in the health system to embrace innovation and create collaborations, in a way that will both generate income and save resources. I am happy to write checks to the state from the exits we make. Our health system is currently doing well with the existing investment, and we still have great data in the areas of life expectancy and infant mortality, a sign that we are efficient. But in the end, we do have unreasonable loads, long lines, and a huge gap between medicine in the center and in the periphery. It is clear that what is currently being invested is not sufficient.”
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on November 18, 2025.
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2025.
