Hear how AI can engineer nature’s comeback at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026
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TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 will host a Real World AI Stage fireside chat titled “Can We Engineer Nature’s Comeback?” featuring Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences. The discussion will examine the technologies behind de-extinction, the role AI plays in modern biology, and whether engineering nature is a conservation breakthrough or a distraction from protecting existing ecosystems. Colossal is described as using advances in synthetic biology and AI in efforts to bring extinct species back, a goal that was once considered science fiction. The article notes that AI is already transforming software, robotics, and scientific research, and that biology may be its next frontier as researchers use it to analyze genetic data, model biological systems, and accelerate discovery. The session is aimed at founders working at the intersection of deep tech, life sciences, and AI and will explore what happens when AI moves beyond digital systems into the natural world. Lamm has spent more than two decades building companies at the intersection of AI and emerging technologies, including Hypergiant, Conversable, and Chaotic Moon, which were later acquired. Disrupt is scheduled for October 13–15 at Moscone West in San Francisco, bringing together more than 10,000 founders, investors, and operators for over 250 sessions.
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