Biotech and AI recreates food at the molecular level | Innov'Nation

[00:00:12][music] Hello and welcome to Innovation. I'm your host Lynn Plmeer and thank you for [music] joining. Now, what if your coffee and even the ingredients in your food were grown in a lab? Israeli companies are using biotech and AI [music] to recreate food at the molecular level, moving production from farms into laboratories. Tonight, it's about biotech. But first, our headlines.

[00:00:50][music] All the science of red wine, none of the wine. Bioh harvest sciences is engineering grape compounds without alcohol, sugar or al agriculture.

[00:01:03]Israel's [music] strong shekele is adding pressure on exporters just as major tech firms [music] cut thousands of jobs and restructure for the AI era.

[00:01:14]And after a report that accused Meta of secretly adding facial recognition to its smart glasses, Mark Zuckerberg's company has now [music] deleted the system.

[00:01:30]Now, what if the future of farming doesn't involve fields at all? An Israeli biotech company is growing valuable plant-based ingredients inside bioreactors, aiming to transform how we produce health, nutrition, and even pharmaceutical products while using a fraction of the land and water required by traditional agriculture. So for more I'm now joined by CEO of Bioharvest Zaki Rakib. Zaki Rakib thank you so much for joining me today. Um you are basically growing the compounds of the plants. Are you still also growing the plants in the laboratory or you're just focusing on extracting the molecule?

[00:02:10]>> No. No. We don't grow any plants. We don't cultivate anything. We take the original cells. We take them from the plant and we never see the plant again.

[00:02:19]We basically grow only the productive cells that create those valuable compounds that we're looking for. Uh we are the manifestation of what Hypocrates said about 2,000 years ago, let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.

[00:02:35]So our AI capabilities combined with combined sorry with our programmable biology enable us to really extract from nature the most beneficial compounds and make them more potent, more accessible and more consistent again without using one iota or of land or anything like that and with using a fraction of a fraction of electricity, water or land required. So can you tell me how much the cost uh the cost are reducted and the water is reducted like how much of an environmental impact does this have?

[00:03:10]>> It's a factor it's a two orders of magnitude. It's about 100x in terms of electricity, land or or water required for the same amount of uh ingredients.

[00:03:21]So we compare apple to apple. We look at how much how many grapes would I have needed uh and how many vineyards and how much land and how much water and how much electricity compared to the same amount of ingredients I'm producing it's about a factor of 100. So how do you plan to scale your production? Because we have other companies around the world that are also attemp at attempting what you are doing. But how is it possible to scale your product so that you lower the cost and actually make it successful?

[00:03:52]>> So we we've developed a proprietary platform that uh leverages AI, automation, computer vision and programmable biology. We spent 15 years to perfect this platform and that's why we can cover multiple industries. We are very competitive pricewise. We haven't seen anything um as of now at the scale that we're producing. So it's a game of scale and uh we hope our competitors we keep them on the treadmill. By the time they they do what we do today, we'll be advanced and we do uh you know an order of magnitude better. Uh but again as I said we use um programmable biology, we use AI, we use computer vision and we have top cell biologist day and night really um uh perfecting uh what we do and we're focused only on plant cells.

[00:04:44]That's also one of the strengths is keeping the focus on plants.

[00:04:49]>> So talk me through your products because I as I understand it you are focusing on this grape health supplement. Uh what what is it? So it's really one single product u u out of many products that we're developing. I mean we're a platform technology but let me focus for a second on vineia. Vignia is the name of the the commercial name of this uh of this product which is uh uh a great example of what we call precision botanics. It's a red grape cell based composition. It's inspired by the French paradox, by the way, which is the observation that the French maintain good cardiovascular health despite the rich diet. It's a benefit linked to the polyphenols found in red grapes and red wine. So what we do, we actually grow the cells that contain a high concentration of this of these polyphenols. One of them is well known to be resveratrol and we magnify. Our bioreactors are able to magnify. That's why we get the scale. And in one capsule containing 400 mgram of this powder, it's equivalent to 1,000 grapes. You would have to eat 1,000 grapes with all the sugar or drink an entire bottle of wine in order to get what you are going to get in one single capsule that you take daily. Um so that's what uh and beside that product we have other products that we are developing uh in different uh areas and not just in nutrition >> because it's you're you're also looking to expand intowards food in the future or you're just going to concentrate on health supplements.

[00:06:24]>> No no no we are we are into food I mean we are into food as well as we are into pharmas and fragrances. We have multiple projects going on simultaneously for food. We have two uh sweeteners that we do with one of the biggest enterprises in in sweeteners, Tate and Li. They're based in the UK and in the US. Uh we have two molecules that we're developing for them. We're developing a molecule for a fragrance that's 15 billion dollars uh market a year. And we're developing also a saffron uh molecule that would go for both food and for neutrautical. Saffron is one of the ingredients you know culinarily used and one of the most expensive one 90% of which grow in in Iran. So also geopolitical matters in this case and so we are capable of producing saffron and sell it both in the dietary supplement space as well as in the uh in the food in the food area. The >> CEO of Bioharvest Saki Rakib thank you for being with me today.

[00:07:28]>> Thank thank you for having me. Thank you. Now we stay in the lab because here in the startup nation something is brewing in the world of chocolate and coffee. With global warming, devastating rainforests, cacao and the coffee bean growers are around the world are running on empty. I24 News host and correspondent Emily Friends Frances visits two companies where they are grinding out a tasty and cost-effective solution tentalizing our taste buds in the process.

[00:07:59]>> Would you like a chocolate? Oh, thank you.

[00:08:02]>> Nine out [music] of 10 people in the world have a sweet tooth for chocolate.

[00:08:06]>> My mom always said life was like [music] a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.

[00:08:13]>> However, cacao faces the risk of extinction. By 2050, [music] more than 50% of the cacao farmland will be unfit for production due to climate [music] change. Though the 5,000-year-old bean originated in the Amazon rainforest and called by tribes the food of the gods, [music] in modern times, Western Africa has produced around 80% of the global supply.

[00:08:38]Rainforests are running dry at alarming rates and the long stale journey of shipping and processing is leaving consumers bitter. the problem in the way it's growing today that a lot of those goodies are diluted in the way cacao is processed. It's really losing a lot of those bioactive.

[00:09:01]Innovative Israeli startup coto is [music] trying to regenerate the bean while tantilizing our taste buds.

[00:09:07]Instead of growing a cacao tree nature for six or [music] seven years and at the end using only the bean, we are saying we don't need to do that. We can do local production. [music] You can put the cookoto plant anywhere in the world outside of the equator very close in proximity to the factories that are already producing plur. It's a one of the largest platforms in the world for cell expansion. We just know how to expand cells. This is what we know to do [music] >> here at the Hifa based biotech company Puri. These bioreactors mimic the environmental conditions of nature.

[00:09:42]>> And it's like [laughter] all right. So I'm this is like science [music] class.

[00:09:46]>> We put the cells in this vessel and then there there is actually perfusion of media. Media is the food that the cells need in order to eat like we eat. We are feeding the cells with this condition media.

[00:09:57]>> The same goes with coffee. [music] Coffee sigh is another startup where this patented cell expansion technology is [music] also picking up where nature leaves off. Our process in terms of sustainability is much more efficient [music] comparing to standard farming, standard agriculture uh where you need huge amount [music] of water and by the way every single espresso that you drink requires 140 liter of [music] water.

[00:10:24]What we are developing is a solution that uh [music] allows to manufacture coffee in a way that bypasses all the challenges.

[00:10:34]>> The existing long energy consuming process is also draining our bank accounts.

[00:10:39]>> This increased dramatically the demand the overall demand for coffee and on the supply side we have issues that are becoming [music] worse and worse. So demand goes up, supply go down. Coffee is a [music] commodity that is traded in the stock market. Actually over the past 5 years you see a huge big increase [music] in prices as well as high volatility.

[00:11:04][music] >> Now our cups can runth over every 3 weeks >> from a single system.

[00:11:09]>> Yeah.

[00:11:10]>> Per year we will be able to produce the amount of coffee that is equivalent to over half a million coffee plants.

[00:11:17]>> This is our product. This is a cellbased dried cellbased [music] coffee.

[00:11:23]>> What you see here, it's a kind of a powder shape.

[00:11:26]>> Coffee side roasts and brews are a taster choice. [music] And the proof is in our morning cup of gel.

[00:11:33]>> Yeah, it smells different.

[00:11:34]>> Different. Yeah, >> it's a sweeter.

[00:11:36]>> Yeah.

[00:11:37]>> Sweeter smell.

[00:11:38]>> Correct.

[00:11:40]>> My nose is working.

[00:11:43]>> What's more, it helps [music] evaporate the carbon footprint on our planet.

[00:11:48]One of the things that we have been asked is [music] are you going is your technology going to replace uh conventional and existing [music] coffee farms and farmers and agriculture and the answer is absolutely no.

[00:12:02]Emily friends is there. Now moving away from biotech from Hollywood to social media a new generation of AI tools is reshaping how visual stories are made.

[00:12:15]Platforms like Kadabra are using generative AI to turn text into cinematic scenes raising questions about the future of filmm itself. So for more I'm now joined by Mal Salah. You are the founder of Kadabra. Thank you for joining me today. For the viewers at home, what is it exactly that you do?

[00:12:36]Hello, my name is and I'm from Israel and I created Kadabra with an AI platform that allows everyone to create uh with only their imagination. They can turn every imagination into a real live uh video with this platform.

[00:12:56]>> So, everyone can use it.

[00:12:59]>> Everyone can use it. Uh, it's built for people who wants to use AI and create by themsel. It's a platform uh that reunites all the best AI models in one place.

[00:13:13]>> Do you have an example of of a user that made something that stuck out to you?

[00:13:18]Yes, I have a Yes, I have a creator who always wanted to create a children movie and she has h all the pictures in her mind but she wasn't able to uh create it by herself.

[00:13:35]So, she made it with Kadabra like this movie. We can see the bear climbing up the window. It's a really beautiful twominute long creation that was all created inside of Kadavo.

[00:13:48]>> So how do you deal with copyright then?

[00:13:52]>> Uh the models deal with that. We just uh provide the tools.

[00:13:58]We just provide the tools and uh people know what to expect. They write prompts that are really accurate and they don't use something that are not supposed to.

[00:14:09]the future of film making no doubt. Mal Salah, you are the founder of Kadabra.

[00:14:15]Thank you very much for being with us today.

[00:14:17]>> Thank you so much.

[00:14:20]>> Now, Israel's economy continues to defy expectation. Despite nearly two years, well actually almost three years of war and growing financial pressure on many households, the shekele has surged against the dollar, prompting concerns from exporters and even intervention by the Bank of Israel. What appears to be a sign of strength is also creating new challenges.

[00:14:45]The Israeli shekele is on a tear. The currency has strengthened sharply in recent months, buoied by investor confidence and the resilience of Israel's economy despite months of conflict. That strength has become so pronounced that the Bank of Israel recently stepped into currency markets for the first time in years, buying foreign currency in an effort to slow the shekele's rise. But the bigger story is not the intervention itself.

[00:15:10]>> The economy is so strong. The high-tech locomotive is so powerful that it's doing well.

[00:15:18]>> That strength is helping support the shekele, but not everyone is benefiting.

[00:15:22]A strong currency means exporters receive fewer shekels for every dollar or euro earned abroad, squeezing profits and making Israeli goods more expensive in international markets. Manufacturers have warned that if the trend continues, it could hurt the competitiveness and weigh on economic growth. Meanwhile, many Israeli households are still feeling the financial effects of war.

[00:15:47]Recent surveys indicate roughly one in three Israelis has seen income decline as families cope with higher expenses, uncertainty, and the lingering economic impact of the conflict. And while the central bank may try to influence the currency's direction, some economists say market forces ultimately have the final say.

[00:16:06]>> You can play with the with the currency for a short while. In the long term, the market will prevail.

[00:16:12]>> For now, the strong shekele is sending a message of confidence in Israel's economy. The question is whether the strength will continue to fuel growth or become a burden for exporters and families already under pressure. The shekele's rise may be a vote of confidence from investors, but economists say policymakers will have to strike a careful balance between preserving that confidence and protecting businesses that rely on overseas sales.

[00:16:41]So, a strong economy, yes, but it's this same strong shekele that is also creating pressure on Israel's tech sector as thousands of jobs are cut and companies race to adapt to the AI era.

[00:16:54]Nicole Zedek reports.

[00:16:56]>> Israeli tech companies are facing a new wave of layoffs, but what we're seeing here could be a lot bigger than that. A dramatic reset in how the Israeli tech sector is built. Some of the country's most well-known companies right now are cutting their workforce and restructuring around artificial intelligence. Now, the main headline here is Wix. Yes, the Israeli website building giant. They're cutting about 1,000 employees. That is 20% of their global workforce for a company that's been around for two decades. The reason is twofold. On the one hand, it's actually due to a strong shekele. As the shekele is surging against the dollar, Israelbased salaries and operating costs, they're actually more expensive for a company that earns most of its revenue in dollars. And on the other hand, the Wick CEO said that AI is forcing the company to become faster, leaner, and a flatter organization. And while this might be one of the main headlines as of recently, Wix is not the only company taking a hit. The fintech company Rapid is restructuring and putting AI at the center of its operations, as well as Amdoc's reportedly preparing to cut 10% of its global workforce. That could impact 3,000 employees. Hundreds of them are here in Israel. But it's not only these big corporations that are taking a hit.

[00:18:18]Some of the smaller, lesserk known organizations are also feeling the hit right now. In fact, AI21 Labs, a startup that was featured right here on Innovation, there are new reports that they are preparing to cut 60% of its staff to shift its focus toward its meestro AI agent platform. Now, what we're seeing right here is big picture that these Israeli tech companies are being squeezed from two ends. On the one hand here we do have the surge in the shekele. Uh Israel's strong currency is hurting exporters and many expenses are in shekels while revenue comes in dollars. And on the other hand artificial intelligence these companies are under pressure to prove that they can incorporate AI to cut back on its operations and cut back on its workforce. So the big picture here is that the AI revolution could already be hitting the tech sector and we could be seeing some of these major changes. But a question is whether these are some short shortterm costs or if the Israeli tech sector is really shifting how it's building these companies from the inside for the long-term future. Something we'll have to continue to monitor.

[00:19:29]Further a field then Ukraine's battlefield has become a laboratory for some of the world's most advanced drone technologies. Now after a drone cross into Latvian airspace, the Baltic nation is looking to those wartime innovations for answers.

[00:19:46]As drones become one of the defining weapons of modern warfare, countries across Europe are searching for new ways to defend their airspace. That change was on display in Latvia where a French fighter jet shot down a drone that entered the country's airspace from Russia. But officials say relying on expensive fighter aircraft and missiles to intercept lowcost drones is not a long-term solution.

[00:20:13]>> It is a very irrational way to shoot down drones with a military fighter jet due to the cost of missiles and all these extra costs that come with it. It is very good that we have such capabilities and we are proving that these capabilities work in both Estonia and Latvia. But going forward such a solution is not sufficient.

[00:20:31]>> That is why Latvia is currently placing emphasis on the drone agreement. This is the major cooperation agreement with Ukraine which is the only country in the world currently that has proven that it is capable of shooting down drones with the highest accuracy and technical capabilities. It is Ukraine, no one else. Ukraine's war has accelerated the development of cheaper and more effective anti- drone technologies from electronic warfare systems to specialized drone interceptors. Now those battlefield innovations are attracting attention across Europe with Latvia pursuing closer cooperation with Ukraine as NATO members adapt to a new era of aerial threats. The drone incursion is the latest reminder that the challenge facing militaries is no longer just detecting hostile drones, but finding affordable ways to stop them.

[00:21:25]Now, onto some viral tech news. Could the person you pass on the street instantly know who you are? A new report says Meta quietly added facial recognition codes to software tied to its smart glasses, renewing concerns about a future where AI powered surveillance becomes part of daily life.

[00:21:45]So for more, I'm now joined by I24 news correspondent Jod Nativitz. Jod, thank you for joining me today. Um, what can you tell me about this feature that Meta added to its smart glasses? So, for now, apparently, we can't do a whole lot because um Meta refused to comment on the report and apparently quietly deleted that feature from their Meta AI app, which is what runs the glasses. Um, but it's quite scary to think that walking down the street you could possibly identify people and get information about them in real time.

[00:22:24]It's causing quite a lot of concern with privacy experts. We I mean, we've gotten used to cameras everywhere, but the idea that someone walking past you could instantly know who you are is a slight concern. And the fact that they're refusing to comment on it is maybe even more of a concern.

[00:22:42]>> Well, and also that the report just came out and then no, they deleted it instantly.

[00:22:46]>> The next day it's gone.

[00:22:47]>> Yeah. So, that's kind of like saying that you're guilty. Um, but how did they do it then? because they just scan through all like social medias and then they can identify the person by the face of the social media profiles.

[00:22:59]>> Yes, it seems like it's something like that. Um but I think it it's quite a far way off. If they do plan on adding something like that, it's not something we have to worry about for the near future.

[00:23:10]>> All right. And Siri is getting an upgrade. What can we expect?

[00:23:14]>> Yes. So, Apple is going to have its worldwide developers conference pretty soon. And one of the most talked about upgrades is to Siri. Um, Siri, as we know, means well most of the time, but >> yeah, it doesn't do anything.

[00:23:27]>> No, it's not great. I've actually I've turned it off completely. I don't I don't want it. It never works.

[00:23:31]>> I don't want it.

[00:23:31]>> Yeah. So, Apple has um started transforming Siri into an assistant that's more capable of actually helping understanding contexts, handling tasks, and integrating more naturally across apps and services on iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc. And the new revamped Siri will actually utilize Google's Gemini AI to make it more user friendly and actually work if we could say that. Uh there are also reports that there will be a standalone Siri app which is not unlike chatbt, Gemini itself, Claude and the list goes on.

[00:24:14]>> So hopefully it becomes that personal AI assistance that we're all dying to have.

[00:24:20]Uh, and lastly, there's a trend where tech companies are actually use tech to get us off tech. How does this work?

[00:24:27]>> Yes. So, apparently Silicon Valley would like us to get off our phones more. Now, there's one startup that's called Bor, which is, as I understand, a game board that can change and depending on what game you'd like to play. and it's focused on in-person games and social experiences and generally getting people together rather than on their phones.

[00:24:53]And there's another thing which is quite interesting which is called cyber deck.

[00:24:58]That's how people are now creating computers that they would like they use to go outside rather than staying inside. and they like their like retro computers and DIY and they encourage users to actually go outside and sit on the grass on their computer with people rather >> this everything is getting so complicated nowadays so we need actually tech to tell us that we have to go outside but with the tech that they are making and developing >> no there's always some money involved >> some money involved like yeah we're being bamboozled yes okay well Jod Telvitz i24 news correspondent thank you for being with me today >> thank you >> and That's all we have time for today.

[00:25:39]I'm your host, Lynn Plmeer. Join us next week for a brand new episode of Innovation. Thank you for watching and have a great day wherever you are [music] from Tel Aviv.

[00:25:53]>> [music]