US National Science Foundation putting $380 million into building ‘self-driving’ labs

By Rebecca Trager2026-07-28T13:29:00

Source: © US National Science Foundation

North Carolina State is one of the institutes receiving a $20 million grant aims to advance an autonomous chemistry lab

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has launched a new $380 million (£285 million) effort to establish a nationwide network of automated laboratories enabled by artificial intelligence (AI), and as part of this initiative North Carolina State University (NCSU) will lead a project that aims to build ‘self-driving’ chemistry labs.