Illumina announced plans to expand beyond sequencing reagents into data‑as‑a‑service through a new BioInsight unit aimed at pharma customers. The company proposed running large, complex sequencing projects—such as Perturb‑seq screens—and retaining ownership of resulting datasets to develop AI foundation models for biology. Illumina said it will grant limited exclusivity to partners before opening data for broader use. CEO Jacob Thaysen framed the move as filling a market gap in high‑cost, analysis‑intensive genomics studies. Industry peers, including Ginkgo and Twist, are pursuing parallel data product strategies, signaling a wider shift toward monetizing genomics data and supporting AI model training.