Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, the company behind the popular chatbot ChatGPT, has invested in a British lab-grown pork company, Uncommon. Uncommon, which is based in Cambridge, claims to use patented technology to create bacon and pork belly products from a single animal cell. The company has eliminated the need for antibiotics and animal products while reducing the materials needed to make meat. Altman, known for investing in numerous companies primarily in technology and energy, was also previously the president of a Silicon Valley investment firm called Y Combinator.
Altman first invested in Uncommon during its early stages and has taken part in a second funding round as the company plans to scale up its lab-grown meat production. Uncommon raised a total of $30 million from investors, including Altman and his brother Max, who run the investment fund Apollo Projects.
According to Uncommon’s CEO, Benjamina Bollag, the company chose to cultivate bacon and pork belly products instead of beef steaks because they believe there is a gap in the market. Bollag added that because no gene editing is used in the production process, getting approval from regulators is expected to be easier. She also hopes that cultivated meat products can make it into mainstream retail within three to five years and believes it will become the largest share of the protein market.
