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Tetsuwan aims to "make the lab programmable" like AWS did for compute

2026-06-24 · 19:29 UTC ·@Diptish09 ·1 min read

Brief

Tetsuwan is building a programmable, automated cloud lab where users write experiments in an exact syntax and receive transparent, reproducible results without physical access. Piloted for two years, the company will launch its first services in 2026 focused on functional protein-design screens; co-founder Cristian Ponce frames automation as necessary for AI-ready, reproducible biology.

Why it matters

Tetsuwan aims to "make the lab programmable" like AWS did for compute: users specify experiments in an exact syntax that an automated remote platform executes, so the user never needs physical access.

Key details

  • The platform was piloted with labs over the past two years; Tetsuwan plans to bring its first services online later in 2026, initially focusing on functional screens for protein design.
  • Co-founder Cristian Ponce argues that automating the lab bench is essential to solve reproducibility issues and meet AI's demand for standardized, testable experiments; founders Alex and Cristian met at Caltech and are recruiting/piloting now.
Source evidence

Most people see a cloud lab.

I see a much bigger idea.

What AWS did for compute,

Tetsuwan is trying to do for biology:

Making the lab programmable

Cristian Ponce (@cmponce)

Automating the lab bench is the best thing we can do for AI in biology.

Most experiments are still run by hand. Every biologist's handiwork is unique and every lab is a little different. So, biology faces widespread reproducibility issues.

But, AI will demand more reproducible data than we can produce, and generate more ideas than we can test.

Experiments must be communicated and executed in a standardized way to generate reproducible data.

So, Tetsuwan is building a lab where users specify experiments in an exact syntax. These experiments are executed by an automated platform to generate transparent, reproducible output. The user never needs physical access to a lab. This is a biology lab you can use like a computer.

Our platform, built and tested with pilot labs over the past two years, lets users configure automated workflows rapidly & precisely.

Later this year, we will bring our first services online, focusing on functional screens for protein design.

Alex and I met at Caltech, where she was one year my senior. We're building this company because we were little kids who wanted to be biologists that grew up into adults who resented the lab bench. We want biology to be about asking questions, not the painful and frustrating manual process of asking them.

For those looking to receive updates on our pilot services, looking for a meaningful job, or just to learn more about our work, see the links in the comments!

Video

— https://nitter.net/cmponce/status/2069839730146230534#m