Palantir cofounder wants a 30,000 monkey farm in the US — because AI jacked up macaque prices by 700% in seven years

The startup Safer Human Medicine is seeking to establish a large-scale breeding facility in the United States to address the rising prices of macaques, which have increased by 700% in just seven years due to artificial intelligence's impact on pharmaceutical research. Joe Lonsdale, a cofounder of Palantir, is reportedly supporting this venture.

The proposed facility will eventually house 30,000 macaques, with an initial population of between 500 and 1,000 monkeys sourced from breeding facilities in Asia. This plan aims to reduce American laboratories' dependence on imported animals for pharmaceutical testing. However, the demand for macaques has surged as AI has accelerated drug discovery, intensifying pressure on an already limited supply.

China, which previously supplied about 60% of American laboratory monkeys, imposed an export ban in 2020, forcing researchers to find alternative sources. Now, Chinese macaques can cost up to $26,000 each, nearly nine times their price in 2019. The project's timeline is complicated by the fact that female macaques usually reach reproductive maturity at four years old, and each can give birth to only one offspring per year.

This slow breeding process means that the facility's intended population will take 20 years to fully develop. Animal welfare advocates criticize the project, calling it "morally indefensible" and demanding legal action against what they perceive as animal abuse.