Jeff Bezos has placed a bet on CuspAI, a British startup that uses artificial intelligence to hunt for new materials for semiconductors, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing. The company announced Monday a $450 million fundraise, valuing it at $2.6 billion, alongside a partnership with Nvidia and other tech heavyweights.

The round was led by Kleiner Perkins and NEA, with Bezos Expeditions taking a significant stake. Other backers include AMD Ventures, Lux Capital, and Britain’s Sovereign AI Venture Fund. CuspAI’s software simulates how novel materials would perform in real-world conditions, narrowing down millions of possibilities before they ever reach a lab. “Most big leaps in technology come down to a material,” said Kleiner Perkins partner Josh Coyne. “CuspAI built a search engine that changes that.”

The startup is also launching what it calls an “AI Materials Foundry,” a network of labs, compute power, and scientific expertise running on its platform. Nvidia is one of 45 organizations providing the computing infrastructure. Meta’s Fundamental AI Research team is also onboard. CuspAI’s CEO Chad Edwards said the foundry will combine Nvidia’s accelerated computing with top-tier chemistry and materials science to push discovery forward. The company, based in Britain, is opening a new office in Singapore and expanding teams across the U.S., Europe, and Japan.

Source: CNBC