Nothing says “we’re serious about dominating a market” quite like giving away breakthrough technology for free. Google’s latest move with AlphaFold 3 might be their most audacious version of this strategy yet.
“AlphaFold 3 can predict the structure and interactions of all of life’s molecules with unprecedented accuracy”
This isn’t just an incremental improvement - While previous versions of AlphaFold could predict protein structures, AlphaFold 3 models the interactions between proteins, DNA, RNA, and small molecules. It’s the difference between having a parts catalog and understanding how the entire machine works.
Drug discovery typically costs billions and takes decades. If AlphaFold 3 can meaningfully accelerate that process - even by modest percentages—the value creation is staggering. Yet Google is handing it to researchers for free through the AlphaFold Server, with the predictable caveat of commercial restrictions. Is this Google’s cloud strategy playing out in life sciences? Establish the platform, get everyone dependent on your infrastructure, then monetize the ecosystem. The pharmaceutical industry, already grappling with AI disruption, now faces a world where molecular interactions can be predicted with “50% better accuracy” than existing methods.The real question isn’t whether AI will transform drug discovery - it’s whether Google will own that transformation.