CuspAI Secures Nvidia, Meta, and Samsung for Revolutionary AI Materials Push
A British AI lab signed up Nvidia, Meta, and Samsung to invent materials that don’t exist yet.
Cambridge Startup CuspAI Unveils AI Materials Foundry
Cambridge-based CuspAI has launched the AI Materials Foundry, a coalition of over 45 companies and research labs, including Nvidia, Meta, Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Lam Research. According to a report by Reuters, the goal is to pool data, labs, and computing power to design new materials faster.
Funding and Support
The launch coincides with a $450 million Series B led by Kleiner Perkins and NEA, backed by Jeff Bezos’s investment fund. This brings the company’s valuation to $2.6 billion. As TNW reported in June, the initial funding was expected to be led by Bezos’s family office.
Overcoming the Materials Bottleneck
CuspAI argues that chemical progress is being hindered due to a bottleneck in material discovery. They aim to accelerate this process using their platform, MIRA, which performs the entire discovery cycle: generating candidate materials, simulating them, planning synthesis, and coordinating lab tests.
Data as an Edge
The company claims its edge lies in data, securing exclusive AI-training rights to foundational chemistry databases. They demonstrate their capabilities with a partnership involving Finnish chemicals firm Kemira, where they reduced a years’-long search for potential materials candidates to six months.
A British Sovereignty Play and Global Impact
This development is also significant for the UK’s tech ambitions, as CuspAI is the fourth company backed by the government’s Sovereign AI Venture Fund. The fund invests in early-stage UK firms to help them scale, with typical investments ranging from £1 million to £10 million.
Notable Hires
CuspAI has assembled a strong team, including John Giannandrea, a former Apple and Google executive.