CuspAI Raises $450 Million and Launches AI Materials Foundry

CuspAI has raised $450 million in Series B funding and launched the AI Materials Foundry, a global partnership aimed at developing new materials through artificial intelligence. The company announced in a press release that over 45 partners, including NVIDIA, Meta, Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group, and Lam Research, are joining the initiative.

The funding round was led by Kleiner Perkins and New Enterprise Associates with participation from Bezos Expeditions, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Lux Capital, AMD Ventures, and Britain’s Sovereign AI Venture Fund. The round values the Cambridge based company at $2.6 billion. Much of the new capital will support laboratory operations in Cambridge, Singapore, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

According to the company, 80 percent of current research will focus on semiconductor materials, especially in finding replacements for rare metals such as ruthenium and iridium that are used in chip manufacturing. The AI Materials Foundry will combine computational resources, laboratory facilities, and scientific expertise to accelerate material design.

Co-founders Chad Edwards and Max Welling also announced additions to the leadership team. John Giannandrea, a former Apple and Google executive, will help establish CuspAI’s presence in the United States, and semiconductor veteran Abhi Talwalkar has joined the advisory board alongside AMD’s venture unit, which also invested in the round.