Tempus AI and Recursion Expanded Data Partnership
The companies have restructured their data access agreement to accelerate development of foundation models for precision medicine.
Updated on Sept. 21, 2026 in Biotech
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Tempus AI and Recursion Pharmaceuticals have extended their existing data partnership through November 2029. The agreement now includes a non-exclusive worldwide license for Tempus to utilize Recursion's RNA sequencing foundation model, known as TxFM.
Why it matters
This collaboration centers on integrating foundation models—large-scale AI systems trained on massive, diverse datasets—into the drug discovery process. By committing to fixed payments, the firms aim to stabilize their joint effort to advance precision medicine workflows.
The companies replaced $84 million in potential discretionary license fees with $42 million in committed payments over three years. Tempus has secured a non-exclusive worldwide license to access TxFM, an RNA sequencing foundation model designed to analyze gene expression patterns.
The players
Tempus AI
A Chicago-based company specializing in AI-driven precision medicine, leveraging a massive library of clinical and molecular data.
Recursion Pharmaceuticals
A biotechnology firm that utilizes large-scale automated biology and machine learning models to accelerate drug discovery pipelines.
The details
The partnership focuses on the technical integration of TxFM—a foundation model architecture designed to interpret complex RNA sequencing data—into broader precision medicine research. By moving from discretionary fees to a committed payment structure, the companies are formalizing their technical data pipeline. This access allows the integration of Recursion's sequencing models with Tempus AI's proprietary clinical datasets to better correlate molecular patterns with clinical outcomes.
Timeline
The partnership was originally established in 2023.
The extended agreement term concludes in November 2029.
The Tech Race
The expansion of the Tempus AI partnership follows a wider industry trend of licensing the TxFM RNA sequencing foundation model to integrate proprietary molecular datasets into automated drug discovery pipelines. This agreement marks a deepening of the investment in the TxFM model as a core component of the firms' integrated precision medicine strategy.
This agreement provides the computational infrastructure necessary to refine AI-driven clinical insights over the next three years. While the impact is primarily institutional, it accelerates the timeline for the development of precision medicine tools that may eventually influence clinical trial design.
The takeaway
The transition to a committed payment model signals that both firms consider the integration of TxFM and clinical data a permanent fixture of their research trajectory. Investors and researchers should watch for the next set of peer-reviewed findings or model performance updates expected during the three-year agreement term.
Further reading
For more on how advanced sequencing models are reshaping regional research, explore the latest updates in Biotech.
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