Reid Hoffman exits Microsoft board to focus on AI drug discovery startup Manus

Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft's board of directors after nearly a decade, the company confirmed Thursday. The move comes as the LinkedIn co-founder and longtime tech investor shifts his attention to a new venture: Manus, an AI-powered drug discovery startup targeting cancer.

Hoffman joined Microsoft's board in 2016 after the tech giant acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. During his tenure, he was a key figure in Microsoft's early bet on OpenAI, sitting on the AI lab's board until 2023 and supporting Microsoft's initial $1 billion investment in 2019. He was also on the board when Microsoft paid $650 million to effectively acquire Inflection AI's talent, including co-founder Mustafa Suleyman.

Now Hoffman is going "founder mode," as he put it on his podcast with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. Manus, where Hoffman serves as co-founder and chairman, raised more than $50 million in seed rounds last year from investors including General Catalyst. The CEO is Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, the oncologist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Emperor of All Maladies."

Hoffman says Manus is making headway on what he calls "Move 37" AI - systems that can outperform humans in creative chemistry, particularly for designing new cancer treatments. "I need to get back to founder mode," he said. "We're seeing such progress."

Source: TechCrunch