Startup uses AI agent to perform controversial brain surgery on a mouse, Anthropic Sonnet controlled motorized surgery rig
The team had to use Sonnet after Opus 5.5 outright refused to run the experiment, while Opus 5 warned that it could stop working in the midst of the operation.
Exin Therapeutics, a biotech startup focused on neurotherapeutics, has completed a brain surgery on a mouse using an AI agent, with co-founder and CEO Gabriel Ocana-Santero sharing details on X. The AI agent, Anthropic Sonnet, was given 19 gene therapy vectors, a mouse model of epilepsy, access to a motorized surgery rig with cameras, and a goal to reduce seizures.
The AI agent chose the drug, brain region, and coordinates for the injection based on three research papers, then drove the robotic arms to administer 250 nanolitres of medication. A licensed veterinarian was present and held a physical kill switch. Despite the successful outcome, there are ethical concerns about AI's role in surgery and the accountability in case of failure.
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