Ginkgo Bioworks is scaling its autonomous laboratory infrastructure as more than 100 robots at its Nebula facility run experiments around the clock and the company advances a $47 million autonomous laboratory project for the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Nebula, which Ginkgo describes as the world’s largest autonomous laboratory, is currently in ramp mode as the company adds new experimental protocols to the system each week. The facility supports Ginkgo’s Cloud Lab, Datapoints and Solutions businesses, with additional devices expected to be installed in its Reconfigurable Automation Carts during the third quarter.
The $47 million PNNL project will include 97 instruments and represents another significant deployment of Ginkgo’s automation technology. The company is positioning autonomous labs as infrastructure capable of replacing manual laboratory work with robotics, allowing experiments to operate continuously and interface more directly with artificial intelligence systems.
Ginkgo is also participating in a broader government-supported expansion of AI-enabled scientific infrastructure. Caltech, Northwestern University and the University of Maryland have commissioned autonomous laboratories from Ginkgo through the National Science Foundation’s approximately $400 million initiative to establish a national network of AI-enabled cloud labs. MIT Media Lab has also received funding to develop a Cloud Laboratory for Learning supported by Ginkgo’s automation systems.
The White House has separately called for investment in autonomous laboratories using robotics, edge AI and real-time analysis through the $5 billion Genesis Mission, according to Ginkgo.
Beyond government projects, Ginkgo is using the same infrastructure to expand domestic pharmaceutical research services. Its new ADME-One offering is described by the company as costing 10 times less than WuXi while performing the work in Boston, and it signed 17 customers during its first six weeks.
Ginkgo is preparing additional automated services spanning nanoscale chemistry, multistep synthesis, Safety-seq and biochemical screens.
The infrastructure expansion comes amid a broader restructuring. Q2 revenue declined 48% year-over-year to $20 million, primarily due to program rationalization, while Ginkgo ended June with $302 million of cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities. The company continues to expect 2026 cash burn of $125 million to $150 million.
KEY QUOTES:
“Autonomous labs are increasingly becoming necessary national infrastructure for American science. The White House and the National Science Foundation are now investing billions to move experimentation off the bench and into AI-enabled labs that scientists can run from anywhere, and Ginkgo is proud to be helping build that future.”
“We’re using that same infrastructure to bring high-value R&D back onshore to the U.S., and to help lead the transition from the manual lab bench to autonomous research infrastructure that runs 24/7 and plugs directly into the AI models transforming drug discovery.”
Jason Kelly, Co-Founder And CEO Of Ginkgo Bioworks
