Amir Gal-Or, one of Israel’s top venture capitalists, is launching a new venture called OMGene.AI, a decision-support system based on genetic information and artificial intelligence. In all his years of activity, he has never seemed more excited. “The system supports decision-making not only in health, although certainly in that area as well, but it’s basically a system that can make you happier,” he declares.
Gal-Or is one of the founders of Infinity Group, which currently has about 150 investments valued at about $2 billion. “Over the last three years, we’ve invested mainly in China, 12 new investments a year on average,” says Gal-Or, emphasizing that the new venture has no connection to China.
A previous project founded by Gal-Or, Infinity R&D Partnership Medical, which was issued on the TASE, declined, as did all other stock exchange R&D partnerships that were a very fleeting hit around 2021, when interest rates were low and investment funds abounded.
Today, the new venture, which is part of the Infinity Group, is his baby. He has even put his son Amit at the helm of OMGene. (Another son, Raz Gal-Or, is a successful influencer and talent agent in China).
The project currently employs 12 people, and Gal-Or has recruited several prominent names for consulting roles, such as geneticist Prof. Rivka Carmi, former president of Ben-Gurion University, and Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dan Shechtman. Prof. Eyal Fruchter, director of Ma’ale Carmel Hospital, will be director of research.
Starting as a research institute
The project has already received $3 million from Infinity, and Gal-Or intends to raise an additional $20 million. This, even though in the first phase, the venture will operate as a not-for-profit research institute. “A bit like OpenAI,” says Gal-Or. “If you ask why a venture capital fund would do something like this, the answer is that this thing is so big, it would be a shame to destroy it because of bad timing. We want to lead the category and invest in it, but the market is not yet built for it, most people are not yet ready to transfer their decisions to a machine.”
“When there is product maturity and a community ready to accept it, it will be a commercial enterprise. But not in the near term.”
How will the system work in practice?
“We take a DNA sample from each person, and connect what we know about the genome to a series of health, psychological, and social characteristics. To do this, we have built a database that starts with a thousand articles and studies, and is expected to have more. “
“From this, we produce a report that tells each person only positive things — their strengths, their area of genius, where they stand out compared to the average person and the surrounding population.”
Gal-Or himself has already experimented with the system and found that, according to his genetics, his strengths are traits such as willpower, intelligence, optimism, and trust in people. He discovered that he has high social skills but a low level of enjoyment from social contact, meaning that he quickly becomes bored with company. “The system will explain to you precisely what each trait means, and how it’s tested,” he says.
An improved version of yourself
Do we know enough about the genome to make predictions about creativity or resilience? There are many other variables that influence these traits, for example epigenetics and brain plasticity.
“The studies we are based on have found a connection between certain patterns in the genome — not individual genes — and traits and abilities. The initial goal is to be based only on genetic information, and thus free you from the shackles society has created for you: your family, your friends, the state, the traumas.”
“But after getting the key to those strengths based on genetic information, users will be able to enrich the system with a lot of additional information if they want: blood tests, microbiome, resume, social network profile, and all email correspondence and WhatsApps. But first, we start with nothing.”
In the next stage, the system creates a collection of chatbots, the “Board of Directors” as Gal-Or calls them. “We can consult with them on a variety of topics, and they answer us while taking into account all the information we have given them about us, including genetic information and what they learn from communicating with us over time. We can get recommendations from them on topics such as sleep, attention, relationships, hobbies, and health. Everything, from ‘what to eat’ to ‘how to talk to the boss,’ and with the option to complete the process, meaning, from the stage where I ask the AI which positions are suitable for me until it reports back that it’s found jobs for me, written my resume so that it fits each position, and also sent it .”
This requires not only AI that can speak nicely, but a high level of integration of the good old and very complicated kind. Are you able to do this yet?
“My team claims that an application like that will be available within six months.”
To what extent can AI, even personalized and genetically tailored as you describe it, give humans good advice?
“Unlike humans, personalized AI will offer advice from your own perspective. It will be like talking to yourself, but a version that has all the knowledge in the world and doesn’t have your emotional biases. I believe that, before long, a conversation with a human will be an inferior conversation to a conversation with a bot, unless the purpose of the conversation in the first place is human connection.”
Cooperation with the IDF
To date, about 100 people have given a genetic sample to the system, using the refer-a-friend method. “100% of them have already changed something following their encounter with the system. Some have gone for blood tests, started taking a certain supplement. Others have realized that they are taking too much risk with their financial investments, that they’re attracted to risk at an unhealthy level. Several people have already changed careers following the system’s recommendations. A software engineer switched to music full-time, some people have decided to stop being monogamous.”
What did the system say they didn’t know?
“They are high in the personality trait of openness to experiences. The system told me that I needed to take an afternoon nap”.
I could also tell you that you need an afternoon nap. “Yes, but now it’s legitimate because I know that I’m among the 30%-40% of people whose sleep pattern is genetically adapted to afternoon naps.”
In the meantime, as mentioned, OMGene.AI is a non-profit organization. “When the company becomes commercial, we won’t market to private consumers. The genetic testing sector has had a bad experience with this model. We will market the product to organizations, who will be able to give it to their employees.”
However, in the coming weeks, Gal-Or will begin accepting requests from the public to use the system, with each user being required to provide a DNA sample as a start. “The future is just a stone’s throw away,” he laughs, adding reassuringly, “I’m not cooperating with Chinese officials on this project, because of how important information privacy is.”
Gal-Or believes that the database could also provide broader insights. “We’re preparing to conduct one study, to prove feasibility,” he says. “Israel went in one moment, on October 7, 2023, from a semi-normal country to a country in trauma, and we’ll be able to see, in our database the impact of trauma on the public. In addition, in collaboration with the IDF, we’re conducting research in which we’ll compile a map of strengths for people diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and we’ll try to give them resilience through their strong points.”
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