Thanks a lot for your detailed feedback. Yes, that was my first...

Thanks a lot for your detailed feedback. Yes, that was my first contribution, a bit sad, right? ;-) But I have to start somewhere and didn't have anything smart to add so far (which suddenly makes sense when you explained me I'm stupid ;-)). I just asked an open question without hidden motives because that's what forums have been created for, right? But in general I really appreciate the information you provide regarding ARU.

I understand that new material compositions will probably be far from perfect, my 'fear' (in general innovation on that front is a good thing) at this moment is that a higher market share of NdPr-free magnets could reduce the supply gap forecast. If efficiency gaps become smaller they could improve their market share, no? But probably I should have investigated a bit more. So the project I linked is about AlNiCo improvements which are focussing a lot weaker magnets (https://5eadvancedmaterials.com/wp-content/uploads/ElementsVisualCaptialHowStrongAreRareEarthMagnets06Jul22.pdf), right? Maybe I am also searching for alternative explanations for the current SP development (besides the "let's complicate ARUs conditions towards FID" which is the only other one I believe in at this point).

I agree that AI is very much on top of the hype cycle currently but I think the comparison with the "saving the rain forest" idea is not fair. Materials research is a very concrete and specific topic (of course with industrial feasibility and transfer to production processes being the biggest challenge) while "ecosystem management" is a very complex one. But with ex-China supply chains coming to life I would expect some innovative approaches to be found.