Accelerating next-generation materials research with AI.

AI-MI researchers continued to make their mark at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2026) in Seoul. Kilian Weinberger, serving as ICML 2016 program co-chair, led the selection process for this year’s Test of Time Award; his…

A machine-learning-guided search has identified two new kagome superconductors — YRu₃B₂ and LuRu₃B₂ — in a discovery covered widely by science media including SciTechDaily, ScienceDaily, Interesting Engineering, and TechTimes. The work, led by the SuperC consortium (Rice/Aalto), was published in Physical Review Research (June 2026) and uses ML pre-screening followed by targeted quantum calculations and laboratory synthesis. AI-MI faculty members Emilia Morosan (Rice) and B. Andrei Bernevig (Princeton) are co-authors of the underlying paper. Note: this paper does not acknowledge the AI-MI grant; it is featured here as member press. Kagome lattice superconductor structure. Image: SciTechDaily. Source: SciTechDaily

AI-MI senior personnel Emilia Morosan, Trustee Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University and director of the Rice Center for Quantum Materials, has been named founding director of Q-RaMP — a new joint program between Rice University and the Max Planck Society to advance global leadership in quantum materials research and technology. The partnership launched July 2, 2026, and is confirmed by both Rice News and a Max Planck Society press release. Morosan’s work in quantum materials and materials discovery is central to AI-MI’s mission. Source: Rice News

AI-MI was well-represented at the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML 2026, Seoul, July 11–19). Eun-Ah Kim, AI-MI Director, co-organized the “AI for Physics” workshop and moderated its opening panel, “AI4Physics and the Current AI Revolution.” John Thickstun (Cornell CS, AI-MI senior personnel) presented a poster on “Scaling Beyond Masked Diffusion Language Models,” demonstrating that uniform-state and interpolating discrete diffusion language models can be made ~12% more FLOPs-efficient. Yoav Artzi (Cornell CS, AI-MI senior personnel) served on the ICML 2026 Outstanding Paper selection committee. Source: ICML 2026

AI-MI faculty member Emilia Morosan — Director of the Rice Center for Quantum Materials and Trustee Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University — organized and keynoted the 2026 RCQM–KAST InterAcademy Global Workshop on Quantum Materials Synthesis, held June 9–12 at the Rice Global Paris Center. The four-day workshop convened leading physicists, chemists, and materials scientists from around the world to tackle the synthesis challenges at the heart of quantum materials discovery. Delivering the opening and closing remarks, Morosan emphasized that “quantum materials are the foundation” for advancing quantum technologies. Source: Rice University News

AI-MI faculty member Keith Brown has been named Head of the Division of Materials Science & Engineering at Boston University, effective July 1, 2026. An associate professor of mechanical engineering, materials science and engineering, and physics, Brown is a pioneer of “self-driving labs” that combine robotics, AI, and additive manufacturing to accelerate materials discovery — research directly aligned with AI-MI’s mission. He succeeds David Bishop, who led the division for 15 years. Keith Brown in his lab. Photo: Boston University Source: https://www.bu.edu/eng/2026/06/10/keith-brown-to-lead-materials-science-engineering-division/

Darrell Schlom, materials scientist and AI-MI member, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences — among the highest honors in U.S. science.

AI-MI Director Eun-Ah Kim (Cornell) delivered a plenary talk — “Learning Quantum Matter from Data: Data-Centric AI for Scientific Discovery” — at the AI4X 2026 conference in Singapore. The plenary session was chaired by Yong Tao Tan. AI-MI Senior Investigator Keith Brown (Boston University) also served as session chair for the conference’s Self-Driving Labs session, “Autonomous materials and chemistry optimization.” Keith will give a talk on “Polymer Discovery through Modular Chemistry Plus Modular Automation,” on Friday, June 19, in a session chaired by Felix Hanke. AI-MI junior investigator Poompol Buathong (Peter Frazier group, Cornell) will give a talk, “Better Protein…

The AI-MI Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) began its 10-week run on June 1, 2026, running through August 7. The program offers two tracks — SURP Materials Track, run jointly with Cornell’s CHESS REU program, and SURP AI Track conducted in collaboration with Cornell Bowers BURE program. Alongside research, participants take part in seminars, lectures, facility tours, and an end-of-summer forum where they present their results. AI-MI SURP Materials Track 2026 Cohort AI-MI SURP AI Track 2026 Cohort

AI-MI marks a major milestone with the launch of a new NVIDIA-powered computing cluster, significantly expanding its capacity for AI-driven materials research. The new infrastructure enables rapid, on-desk development and supports researchers across the AI-MI network in tackling complex scientific challenges.