Jeff Bezos has invested in this £2B UK AI start-up
What's the story
Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, and the UK government have invested in a £2 billion British artificial intelligence (AI) start-up called CuspAI. The Cambridge-based company has raised $450 million (£330 million) in funding from investors including Bezos and the government's sovereign AI fund. This investment values the two-year-old business at $2.6 billion.
Coalition
Part of the AI Materials Foundry
CuspAI is part of the AI Materials Foundry, a coalition of over 48 tech companies, industrial firms, and research facilities.
The group's goal is to develop AI-powered software for discovering and developing new materials for chipmakers and other industries.
Members include industry giants such as NVIDIA, Meta Platforms, and Hyundai Motor Group.
Material discovery
Main goal is to reduce research times drastically
CuspAI's primary objective is to drastically cut down research times and reduce or eliminate the use of rare metals like iridium and ruthenium in chipmakers' supply chains.
The company plans to use frontier AI, the most advanced general-purpose artificial intelligence models, to discover new materials that could make energy networks and batteries more efficient.
International growth
Funding will help CuspAI expand internationally
The latest round of funding will help CuspAI expand internationally, opening a new office in Singapore and hiring more staff in Cambridge, Amsterdam, Berlin, Tokyo, and the US.
The UK government's sovereign AI fund has also invested in CuspAI as part of its strategy to back early-stage British AI firms and help them compete globally.
Partners
Foundry partners in Cambridge, Singapore, and San Francisco
CuspAI plans to dedicate 80% of its efforts this year toward material discovery.
The company is also working with Abhi Talwalkar, a board member at chipmaker AMD and chair of Lam Research.
Chad Edwards, CuspAI's co-founder and CEO, said "much of that funding will go toward supporting labs..." with foundry partners in Cambridge, Singapore, and the San Francisco Bay area.