Quick Facts
- Hoffman informed Microsoft on June 2 he will not stand for re-election at the 2026 annual shareholder meeting
- Manus AI raised over $50 million in seed funding to develop AI-driven cancer drug discovery programs
- The startup aims to achieve ‘Move 37’ AI that supersedes human creativity in chemistry for cancer treatment
Reid Hoffman is stepping down from Microsoft’s board after a decade to focus on AI drug discovery startup Manus, the company announced Thursday. The LinkedIn founder informed Microsoft on June 2 that he will not stand for re-election at its 2026 annual shareholder meeting.
Hoffman joined Microsoft’s board in 2016 after the tech giant acquired LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. He was present during key AI decisions, including Microsoft’s first $1 billion investment in OpenAI in 2019.
“One of the things I realized over the last month was that, we’re seeing such progress with Manus. I need to get back to founder mode,” Hoffman said in a video posted to his social media accounts.
Manus AI focuses on cancer drug discovery and raised over $50 million through seed rounds last year. The company secured $24.6 million in seed funding led by General Catalyst with participation from Greylock and other strategic investors. Manus initially targets breast cancer, prostate cancer, and lymphoma.
Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, a physician and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Emperor of All Maladies,” serves as CEO. Hoffman holds the chairman role. Mukherjee said the company aims “to transform how we discover and develop life-saving medicines” and “drastically reduce the time and cost” of bringing treatments to patients.
Hoffman believes Manus is making progress on “Move 37” AI, referencing Google DeepMind’s AlphaGo move that initially appeared to be a mistake but proved strategically brilliant. This AI would supersede human creativity in chemistry for cancer treatment.
The startup’s Project Cosmos maps fundamental rules of drug binding. Manus operates a cloud-based molecular docking platform on Microsoft Azure that screens drug candidates 100 times faster than traditional methods.
Traditional drug discovery suffers from success rates below 10% for compounds entering clinical trials and prohibitive costs. AI drug discovery has become one of biotech’s hottest sectors, with companies like Recursion Pharmaceuticals and Insitro raising billions.
Hoffman previously faced scrutiny for simultaneous involvement with Microsoft, OpenAI, and other AI investments. He resigned from OpenAI’s board in March 2023, citing potential conflicts of interest.
Read more: Reid Hoffman is leaving Microsoft’s board to go ‘founder mode’ with startup Manus
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