# Colossal's Ben Lamm takes the Disrupt stage

> De-extinction is now a billion-dollar startup bet, and Disrupt 2026 puts the hardest question about it on stage.
- Title: Colossal's Ben Lamm takes the Disrupt stage · TechCrunch
- Summary: De-extinction is now a billion-dollar startup bet, and Disrupt 2026 puts the hardest question about it on stage. The real debate is not whether AI can…
- Keywords: biotech, conservation, de-extinction, startups, technology, Colossal's, Ben, Lamm, takes, Disrupt, stage, TechCrunch
- Source: TechCrunch — https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/14/hear-how-ai-can-engineer-natures-comeback-at-techcrunch-disrupt-2026
- Author: TechCrunch Events
- Published: 2026-09-14T14:30:00+00:00
- Read time: 1 min
- Topics: ai, biotech, conservation, de-extinction, startups, technology
## Science fiction grew a business plan
Bringing an extinct species back used to be a movie premise. It is now the stated mission of a billion-dollar company, built on AI, genetics, and computational biology.

> Not long ago, bringing an extinct species back to life belonged to science fiction.
## The question under the science
If technology can revive what we lost, should it? That is the tension behind the fireside chat "Can We Engineer Nature's Comeback?" on the Real World AI Stage.

> If technology can help revive extinct species, should it?
## Ben Lamm in the chair
Colossal Biosciences co-founder and CEO Ben Lamm joins the session to talk through synthetic biology, AI, and the machinery behind de-extinction.
## Breakthrough or distraction
The talk goes straight at the fight: is engineering nature a conservation win, or does it pull attention and money from the ecosystems still standing?

> a conservation breakthrough, or a distraction from protecting the ecosystems we already have
## Biology is AI's next frontier
AI already reshaped software and robotics. Researchers now use it to read genetic data, model living systems, and speed up discovery, with Colossal pushing hardest.

> AI is already reshaping software, robotics, and scientific research. Biology may be its next frontier.
## Two decades of building first
Lamm founded Hypergiant, Conversable, and Chaotic Moon before Colossal, selling them to Trive Capital, LivePerson, and Accenture. Enterprise AI was the warm-up act.
## Bigger than one species
Reviving a mammoth grabs headlines, but the session reaches into medicine, climate science, and who holds authority over engineered living systems.

> It asks what role emerging technologies should play in solving some of the world's most complex problems and who gets to decide.
## Moscone West, October 13-15
Disrupt returns to San Francisco with 10,000+ founders, investors, and operators across 250+ sessions and six industry stages. Passes are discounted now.
## Key takeaway

The real debate is not whether AI can rebuild lost species, but who decides when it should.