Alibaba's new AI tool can discover superconducting materials
What's the story
Alibaba Group's Damo Academy has unveiled a groundbreaking artificial intelligence (AI) agent, Elements Claw, that specializes in discovering superconducting materials. The innovative tool has already identified four new compounds, all of which have been confirmed through lab tests. Superconductors are special materials that can conduct electricity without resistance and repel magnetic fields when cooled to low temperatures.
Discovery
Elements Claw aims to reduce time taken to discover superconductors
The process of discovering new superconductors has been a tedious trial-and-error process, mainly because scientists don't have a complete theoretical understanding of superconductivity. Over the years, only some 2,000 known superconducting materials have been added to the popular SuperCon database. This is where Elements Claw comes in, designed to speed up this process by sifting through scientific literature and screening millions of crystal structures.
Tech specs
The AI is backed by a billion-parameter foundation model
Elements Claw is powered by a specialized one-billion-parameter foundation model trained on 125 million molecular and crystal structures. In just 28 hours of graphics processor computing time, it screened 2.4 million stable crystal structures and identified some 68,000 candidates with superconducting potential. The system was developed in collaboration with Renmin University of China and the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences.