Google DeepMind will open a robotic AI lab in UK to discover new materials

The UK partnership is a win for Google’s efforts to get governments to adapt its cloud services and Gemini AI model, an area where it competes with rivals Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI.

Google DeepMind will open its first research lab for discovering new materials, like those used in batteries or semiconductors, as part of its push to apply artificial intelligence to more scientific fields.

The facility, which will open in the UK next year, is the centerpiece of a broad partnership with the British government Alphabet Inc.’s Google announced on Thursday. Under the agreement, the company said it will tailor several of its AI models, including Gemini, for scientists, teachers and public employees in the country.

DeepMind, the company’s London-based research unit, described the lab as its first “automated” facility — a site that uses robotics to perform scientific experiments, minimizing human intervention. It didn’t provide any financial details or share how many people will work there.

The UK partnership is a win for Google’s efforts to get governments to adapt its cloud services and Gemini AI model, an area where it competes with rivals Microsoft Corp. and OpenAI. It’s also a sign of DeepMind’s plans to advance further into material science, one of its main research interests. Several new startups, including some from former DeepMind engineers, are trying to use advanced AI algorithms to unearth novel materials, arguing the process can dramatically reduce costs and time.

In its new lab, DeepMind said it will research materials that could improve medical imaging, solar panels and chips. Additionally, the company said it will provide British scientists with “priority access” to four of its scientific models, including those for parsing DNA and predicting the weather.

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“Discovering new materials is one of the most important pursuits in science,” Demis Hassabis, DeepMind’s leader, wrote in a blog post co-signed with other executives.

In a separate statement, the UK government said the company would contribute to research in fields like fusion energy and develop tools for UK teachers based on Gemini.

DeepMind also said it will begin sharing its proprietary models and data with the UK AI Security Institute, a government agency set up in 2023 to test and evaluate AI systems.

In September, Google announced plans to invest £5 billion ($6.7 billion) in UK over the next two years on data centers and operations. That remains a small percentage of the company’s global spending.