OpenAI exec leaves to found materials science startup

Liam Fedus, OpenAI’s VP of research for post-training, is leaving the company to found a materials science AI startup.

The Information initially reported Fedus’ plans. In a statement on XFedus confirmed the report and added a few additional details.

“My undergrad was in physics and I’m keen to apply this technology there,” Fedus said in the statement. “Because AI for science is one of the most strategically important areas to OpenAI and achieving (artificial superintelligence), OpenAI is planning to invest in and partner with my new company.”

Fedus’ firm will compete with Google DeepMind, Microsoft, and others in the nascent AI materials science space. In 2023, DeepMind claimed that its AI system, Gnome, found crystals that could be used to make new materials. More recently, Microsoft unveiled a pair of materials-discovering AI tools called MatterGen and MatterSim.

Some experts are skeptical that today’s AI is capable of truly novel scientific discoveries, however.