Jack Hidary, CEO of SandboxAQ,is candid about the challenges and opportunities facing both the artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum computing sectors as they converge to address high-impact problems in industry. Speaking at RSAC in San Francisco, Hidary detailed how SandboxAQ is aiming to disrupt the pharmaceutical, materials, and cybersecurity landscapes by transitioning away from the popular but limited large language models (LLMs) to “Large Quantitative Models” (LQMs)—a new AI paradigm tailored for scientific and industrial applications.

Unlike LLMs, which excel at generating and processing text, LQMs operate on the underlying mathematics, chemistry, physics, and biology that drive the real world. According to Hidary, “80% of the GDP of the world is focused on quantitative relationships. If you want a new drug, new diagnostic, you’re going to need an LQM.” That insight is fueling SandboxAQ’s business model and attracting top-tier investors including T. Rowe Price, Eric Schmidt, Jim Breyer, Thomas Tull, Google, and Nvidia. The company has raised a staggering $950 million to date—an indicator of the scale and institutional conviction behind this new wave of AI.

In the domain of drug discovery, SandboxAQ’s LQMs are already being put to work. As reported by AIwire, SandboxAQ combines curated experimental datasets, computational chemistry, and proprietary “Agentic AI Chemist” tools to autonomously screen millions of molecular combinations at a pace that dramatically outstrips traditional laboratory methods. “Verification is a key piece of it… you have a lot of handles and opportunities to verify what you’re doing through all kinds of different computational methods,” explains Dr. Leichenauer, a lead scientist at SandboxAQ, describing how AI-driven predictions are rigorously checked against real-world data. This iterative cycle of prediction and validation is shrinking the time and cost needed to move from candidate molecules to viable therapeutics, a breakthrough of particular significance for diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s that have resisted decades of conventional drug R&D efforts.

Partnerships with technology heavyweights are accelerating progress. In 2024, SandboxAQ and Nvidia achieved an 80x speedup in quantum chemistry simulations using CUDA-accelerated frameworks, enabling more detailed insights into enzyme catalysis—critical for pharma and biotech innovation, according to reporting from MedCloudInsider. In 2025, the coalition hit a new benchmark by modeling an 82-electron, 82-orbital quantum system, previously considered unmanageable, opening doors to new molecular discoveries.

The reach of SandboxAQ’s platform extends beyond pharmaceuticals. The company is collaborating with automakers and financial institutions, applying LQMs to materials engineering and quantitative finance, sectors where minute improvements in modeling precision can yield billions in value. In medicine, SandboxAQ’s high-fidelity simulations improve both the resolution and interpretability of medical imaging, enhancing diagnostic accuracy and clinical workflow.

Cybersecurity, too, is becoming a proving ground for SandboxAQ’s innovation. During RSAC, Hidary announced the launch of Active Guard, a general-availability cybersecurity suite aimed at protecting sensitive enterprise and hospital data from increasingly sophisticated AI-powered attacks. Given the rise in spear phishing and custom malware engineered by adversaries wielding generative AI tools, AI-driven cyber defense is, according to Hidary, now essential to safeguarding intellectual property and critical infrastructure.

As these AI-native applications move from prototype to production across industries, Hidary envisions an era of rapid productivity growth—potentially surpassing historical GDP growth rates—by merging the automation power of LLMs with the predictive and generative muscle of LQMs. “This is really a moment of great inflection for humanity,” Hidary said, projecting that the combined force of AI and quantum technology will generate step-change value in sectors spanning energy, chemicals, finance, and biopharma.

With these advances, SandboxAQ is positioning itself as a global pace-setter at the intersection of deep science, advanced AI, and commercial innovation. As Alexis Bjorlin, Vice President of NVIDIA DGX Cloud, summarized: “The scale and performance of our platform is unlocking transformative applications across the healthcare continuum.” The convergence of AI and quantum is no longer theoretical; it is reshaping the competitive landscape for industry insiders prepared to harness its potential.