UK government, Bezos back CuspAI's $450 million round as startup seeks to discover new materials

Britain's CuspAI said on Monday it has raised $450 million from investors including the UK government and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' investment fund, as the startup looks to discover brand-new materials that could advance important industries, including chips.

The Series B round was led by Kleiner Perkins and NEA and valued CuspAI at $2.6 billion. The startup is looking to expand its operations across the U.S., Asia-Pacific and Europe.

CuspAI said its AI platform, MIRA, enables partners to run full discovery cycles — "from generative materials design through simulation, synthesis route planning and coordinated experimental validation."

Joining the UK's Sovereign AI Venture Fund and Bezos Expeditions as new investors are Glade Brook Capital Partners, Lux Capital, AMD Ventures and the Netherlands' Invest-NL.

CuspAI named Advanced Micro Devices board member and semiconductor veteran Abhi Talwalkar as its advisory board member, among modern AI pioneers Yann LeCun and Geoffrey Hinton.

The startup also said it has hired former Apple and Google executive John Giannandrea, who is helping establish its U.S. foundry operations.

CuspAI also launched , a coalition of more than , including chip designer and social media firm , to bring together computing resources needed for software that would help researchers develop new materials.