kill switch silicon valley’s plan to make the “perfect baby”
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Feb 25, 2026 Amanda Gerut, West Coast editor at Fortune who covers Silicon Valley and tech investments, walks through the surge of fertility startups and polygenic screening. She explains how AI-driven embryo analysis and gene editing are being funded. Conversation covers which traits can be screened, costs and who can access these services, and the inequality and ethical questions they raise.
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Big Tech Is Funding A Fertility Tech Boom
- Silicon Valley is pouring major capital into fertility tech, creating a roughly $25 billion industry fueled by 2024 investment spikes.
- Backers include Sam Altman, Alex Ohanian, and Ann Wojcicki, and startups like Nucleus Genomics use AI-driven polygenic screening to market trait prediction.
Polygenic Screening Claims Go Far Beyond Classic IVF Tests
- Polygenic screening extends IVF testing beyond single-gene and chromosomal disorders to predict complex traits using AI amplification of few embryonic cells.
- Companies claim predictions for risks and traits including childhood cancers, autism, height, and face shape despite scientific limits.
Couple Used Screening To Avoid Deafness Concern
- Bay Area couple Roshan George and Julie Kang used polygenic screening after discovering a shared mutation that risked profound deafness in a child.
- Their newborn tested with normal hearing, and the couple reflected on tradeoffs between knowledge and love.