Periodic Labs

About Periodic Labs

Periodic Labs is an artificial intelligence startup focused on materials science. The company was founded in 2025 by Liam Fedus, the former vice president of research at OpenAI, and Ekin Dogus Cubuk, a former research scientist at Google's DeepMind. Fedus was a key member of the team that developed ChatGPT, and Cubuk was a research scientist at Google DeepMind. Their collaboration combines extensive experience from leading AI organizations to advance material discovery.

The company's primary objective is to utilize AI to model, predict, analyze, and design new materials, which could lead to significant breakthroughs in sectors such as energy, electronics, and manufacturing. By using machine learning, Periodic Labs aims to accelerate the process of discovering new materials and reduce the associated time and costs compared to traditional research methods. The potential applications of these new materials range from clean energy and semiconductors to reshaping supply chains and technological capabilities.

In August 2025, Periodic Labs secured a $200 million financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), which valued the company at $1 billion pre-money. Although OpenAI was initially expected to lead the round, Periodic Labs chose a16z for its strategic support, though OpenAI remains an investor and potential collaborator. This significant early-stage funding highlights strong investor confidence in the founding team's expertise and the company's potential to transform the materials science landscape.