Amid the latest developments in technology, Liam Fedus, vice president of research at OpenAI, announced that he will leave the company and instead start an artificial intelligence startup focused on materials science. The news was first reported by The Information website, and Fedus later confirmed the news on social platform X and shared his future plans.
Fedus mentioned in his statement that his undergraduate major is physics, so he hopes to be able to apply artificial intelligence technology to this field. He said that AI applications in materials science are one of the strategic directions that OpenAI attaches great importance to, and his new company is also supported by OpenAI, which plans to invest and cooperate with his companies in the future.
With the continuous advancement of technology, the application of AI in the field of materials science has gradually attracted the attention of major technology companies. Fedus' new company will compete with Google DeepMind, Microsoft and other companies. In 2023, DeepMind claimed that its AI system Gnome has discovered some crystals that can be used to make new materials, and Microsoft has also launched two material discovery AI tools called MatterGen and MatterSim. Advances in these technologies indicate the great potential of AI in scientific research.
Nevertheless, some experts in the industry are skeptical about whether current artificial intelligence has the ability to make real scientific discoveries, and they believe that there are still many challenges and limitations in this field.
Fedus' departure and the establishment of a new company have attracted widespread attention, especially in the intersection of technology and materials science, and how it will develop in the future is worth looking forward to.
Key points:
Liam Fedus announces leaving OpenAI to start a Materials Science AI startup.
OpenAI plans to invest and cooperate with Fedus’ new company to promote the application of AI in materials science.
The industry is controversial about AI’s ability in scientific discovery, and many remain cautious.