The Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing several sectors and also has the potential to transform materials science. CuspAI is an applied AI company dedicated to building a platform for next-generation materials. It integrates advanced machine learning with materials science and process design. The platform serves as a kind of “search engine for materials”. This uses AI to design new materials for various applications.
The first areas of application include: gas separation and carbon capture (new materials could significantly improve the efficiency of CO₂ separation) and semiconductor materials. As the miniaturisation of chips continues, materials research is becoming increasingly important to find new, more powerful alternatives to silicon.
Technological foundations and AI models
The platform relies on various methods. “Generative models” design new molecules and condition their properties. “Force fields” enable physical simulations by calculating the energies and forces of atoms. And “property predictors” bypass simulations by directly predicting material properties. Besides, “AI-powered search agents” efficiently filter the best materials from a large set of potential combinations.
Max Welling, Co-founder and Chief AI Officer at CuspAI, emphasises that AI is enabling tremendous progress in materials research. Simulations that used to take weeks can be done in seconds with AI-powered models.
World-class researchers
Welling is a pioneer in AI and former Distinguished Scientist and VP at Microsoft Research and Qualcomm, and Professor at the University of Amsterdam. Co-founding the company with Welling is Chad Edwards. He is a chemist who has spent his career in deep-tech commercialisation including at Google and BASF.
“Imagine a search engine not just for existing materials, but for all potential molecules and materials that could be created – Welling said –. Our AI can generate and evaluate new materials on demand. For example, you can request a material that selectively binds carbon dioxide under specified conditions. The AI then generates, evaluates and optimises the potential molecular structures that meet those exact criteria. Through careful process optimization and lab testing, we’re able to close the loop and ensure materials are synthesizable, stable and ultimately useful in production”.
Geoffrey Hinton, known as the “Godfather of AI”, serves as a board advisor. Besides, in addition to the founding team CuspAI has appointed one of the world’s most accomplished computational chemists as Chief Scientist and assembled a world-leading research team across Cambridge and Amsterdam.
Different possibilities of application
Artificial Intelligence can bring many advances, opening up new possibilities in various application field. “Carbon capture is just the start – Chad Edwards, Co-founder and CEO of CuspAI, explains –. The material class we have in mind are well-suited for many other applications including energy storage, catalysis and gas and water purification. By harnessing AI for design and process optimisation we can create materials and solutions tailored to the specific needs of almost any industry. We are entering the age of precision materials”.
