I would like to see the AI players getting different ingredients than me. That would give more variety to the game. All of us making anti-cancer meds is a bit boring.
I see your point, but then you wouldn’t really be playing against anyone.
They have to have the same starting meds and same ingredients tree to force you to expand faster than is comfortable for you. If you notice the saturation on the ingredients, the price goes up the more everyone buys. So you have to keep pushing on all fronts (ingredients, tech, and lab space) to stay ahead.
They have to have the same to make the game challenging.
Maybe for a sandbox casual game, that could be an option.
Agreed, I believe Glitchster has the right idea.