Microsoft announced Tuesday that a team of scientists used artificial intelligence and high-performance computing to plow through 32.6 million possible battery materials ― many not found in nature ― in 80 hours, a task the team estimates previously would have taken 20 years. The results kick off an ambitious effort to create a new generation of batteries less dependent on toxic and environmentally damaging lithium.
The company shared some of the best candidates with the government’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., which investigated the most promising ones and built a prototype battery using a brand-new material.
While the dime-size prototype is not yet ready for a prime-time role powering the watches and car keys of today, it functions using less lithium than commercially available options and has the ability to recharge power. Moreover, the feat demonstrates the potential of new technologies to revolutionize the underappreciated but fast-evolving field of materials science.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2024/01/09/microsoft-ai-battery-lithium/
