📝 Periodic Labs raises $300M

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Periodic Labs, an AI-driven materials science startup founded by former OpenAI researcher Liam Fedus and ex-Google Brain scientist Ekin Dogus Cubuk, emerged from stealth with a massive $300 million seed round. The round was led by Felicis and joined by top investors including Andreessen Horowitz, DST, NVentures, Accel, Jeff Bezos, and Eric Schmidt. The company aims to fuse AI, robotics, and simulations to automate material discovery — from machine learning models proposing compounds to robotic labs creating and testing them. Fedus, who helped develop ChatGPT, left OpenAI to pursue the venture, while Cubuk previously built an automated lab at Google that produced 41 new materials. Periodic’s initial focus is on discovering new superconductors, with a top-tier team of AI and physics experts already running experiments in its new lab. Though OpenAI declined to invest, the company’s vision, integrating real-world experimentation into AI training, reflects a growing race to apply generative AI to scientific research.

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