A.I. Scientists Are Here. But Is Progress Accelerating? | EP 170

The leaders of the biggest A.I. labs argue that artificial intelligence will usher in a new era of scientific discovery, which will help us cure diseases and accelerate our ability to address the climate crisis. But what has A.I. actually done for science so far?

To understand, we asked Sam Rodriques, a scientist turned technologist who is developing A.I. tools for scientific research through his nonprofit FutureHouse and a for-profit spinoff, Edison Scientific. Edison recently released Kosmos — an A.I. agent, or A.I. scientist to use the company’s language, that it says can accomplish six months of doctoral or postdoctoral-level research in a single 12-hour run.

Sam walks us through how Kosmos works, and why tools like it could dramatically speed up data analysis. But he also discusses why some of the most audacious claims about A.I. curing disease are unrealistic, as well as what bottlenecks still stand in the way of a true A.I.-accelerated future.

For more on this episode, go to: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/po...

Guest:
Sam Rodriques, founder and C.E.O of FutureHouse and co-founder of Edison Scientific.
https://www.sam-rodriques.com/

Additional Reading:
The Quest for A.I. ‘Scientific Superintelligence’
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/10/te...

Top A.I. Researchers Leave OpenAI, Google and Meta for New Start-Up
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/30/te...

Chapters:
00:00:00 - This week on the show
00:00:12 - Where is all the A.I. science?
00:03:41 - Interview with Sam Rodriques

Hard Fork is a weekly look into the future that's already here. Hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton explore stories from the bleeding edge of tech.

Casey’s publication, Platformer: https://www.platformer.news/

FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL

TikTok:   / hardfork  

Instagram:
Kevin Roose -   / kevinroose  
Casey Newton -   / crumbler  

Twitter (X):
Kevin - https://x.com/kevinroose
Casey - https://x.com/CaseyNewton

Threads:
Kevin - https://www.threads.net/@kevinroose
Casey - https://www.threads.net/@crumbler

Subscribe to the podcast:
Apple - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast...
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/show/44fllCS...
Amazon - https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/7c7...
YouTube Music -    • Hard Fork  
The New York Times - https://www.nytimes.com/column/hard-fork

Credits
“Hard Fork” is hosted by Kevin Roose and Casey Newton. Produced by Rachel Cohn and Whitney Jones. Engineering by Chris Wood and original music by Dan Powell, Marion Lozano, Sophia Lanman and Rowan Niemisto. Fact-checking by and Will Peischel. Our executive producer is Jen Poyant. Video production by Chris Schodt, Sawyer Roque and Jake Nicol. Video QC by Isabella Anderson. Podcast Art Direction by Benjamin Wilkerson Tousley. Podcast Art & Animations by Julian Hespenheide. Additional Motion graphics by Phil Robibero. Thumbnails by Julia Moburg, Elizabeth Bristow and Yvonne Stender. Special thanks to Paula Szuchman, Pui-Wing Tam, Niko Gallogly & Kate LoPresti