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COMPANY PROFILE / MATERIALS INFORMATICS

IBM
— Publishing materials AI as open foundation models, and putting them to work with partners

IBM as a whole is a hybrid-cloud and enterprise-AI company, and in the Form 10-K and annual report for 2025 we found no mention of materials discovery. We cover it here because its research division, IBM Research, has published several chemistry and materials foundation models under the Apache-2.0 license on GitHub and Hugging Face. A preprint also reports using one of them to search for battery electrolytes: 16 formulations were actually measured, and 7 passed the study’s threshold.

This profile ignores IBM as a whole and focuses on its materials AI research: what it has released, who it works with, and what we could not confirm. Terms such as “foundation model” and “molecular representation” are explained where they first appear.

Built from IBM’s SEC filings (the Form 10-K and annual report filed in February 2026), IBM Research’s official blog posts, model cards on Hugging Face, papers, and JSR’s official release. Last updated 22 October 2026.

What this article covers
  1. IBM in 30 seconds, and where it stands in materials informatics
  2. The logo and how the name is written
  3. Where the company sits in the materials informatics field
  4. Scale (the whole company in brief)
  5. Resources committed to materials informatics
  6. What it has done so far
  7. What comes next
  8. What the company is aiming for in materials informatics
  9. Map of materials informatics partnerships
  10. Technology, products and services
  11. The risks this company carries
  12. Glossary
  13. References
  14. Claim-to-source audit

1. IBM in 30 seconds, and where it stands in materials informatics

LEGAL NAMEInternational Business Machines CorporationCommonly IBM
HEADQUARTERSArmonk, New York, USAOne New Orchard Road
LISTINGNYSE: IBMFrom the Form 10-K filed February 2026
TYPE IN MIFoundation models & compute
(primary)
Secondary: autonomous experiments (RoboRXN). Current status not confirmed
MAIN MATERIALS OUTPUTOpen foundation models
for chemistry and materials
FM4M (Foundation Models for Materials)
HOW IT IS RELEASEDApache-2.0On GitHub and Hugging Face
EXPERIMENTAL CHECK16 electrolyte formulations measured7 above 10 mS/cm (as stated in the preprint; the study team’s own report)
KEY PARTNERSJSR / AI AllianceAgreed on joint AI research in November 2025 (JSR release)
The one point to take away

Materials informatics (MI) is a way of finding new materials by collecting materials data, using AI or computation to predict and design properties, and then checking the result by experiment. IBM sits on the “predict and design” step: it builds AI models for it and releases them free of charge Sourced. It is not selling them as a product. The public record shows a research division that publishes models and then puts them to work with materials companies such as JSR (our reading is in Chapter 8).

But IBM’s overall scale and the scale of its materials AI research are two different things. IBM does not disclose headcount, budget or revenue for materials AI research Not yet confirmed.

2. The logo and how the name is written

A note on names: the legal entity is International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM. IBM Research, which does the materials AI work, is not a separate company but IBM’s research division. This article writes “IBM” for the whole company and “IBM Research” for the division.

A note on model names: IBM’s blog writes SMILES-TED, while the model card and the paper write SMI-TED. They appear to be the same model, and this article follows the model card and paper (SMI-TED).

Official site: https://www.ibm.com/

3. Where the company sits in the materials informatics field

Four types of companies in materials informatics Strengths and weak points differ by where each "MI company" sits: data, design or experiment Foundation models & compute MI software & materials AI Autonomous experiments & robotics Industrial users AI built on data + compute Software and materials AI Robots run the experiments Batteries, chemicals, chips Google DeepMind / Microsoft Meta / NVIDIA Citrine / Schrödinger Preferred Networks / CuspAI Chemspeed / Radical AI Periodic Labs / Lila Sciences SES AI / Mitsui Chemicals Applied Materials Large compute and talent Usability and data Speed of experiment cycles Real materials and markets Relies on others to test Depends on customer data Capex and reproducibility Talent and data shortfalls IBM is at the far left: its research division publishes materials AI models openly Main role: predict and design. Own materials-data business and lab capacity: not in public sources
Fig. 1 Four types of companies in materials informatics, and the position of IBM. The grouping is our own, and the company names are examples drawn from companies covered in this series Our calculation. That IBM’s materials models are public, and that the experimental check was in an electrolyte paper, is based on the official blog, model cards and the paper.

Even when two companies both say “AI”, they differ in where they sit along the flow of collect data → predict and design → check by experiment. Here is IBM placed on that flow.

Which part of the MI flow IBM covers Main role: predict and design; data and experiments rely on public data and a paper 1 Collect data 2 Predict and design 3 Check by experiment Trains on public data PubChem, Zinc-22, Materials Project-based Own materials-data business: not confirmed Foundation models (FM4M) SMI-TED / SELFIES-TED MHG-GED / MoL-MoE pos-egnn / Geodite Released as Apache-2.0 Electrolyte tests (paper) 16 formulations, room temp. RXN / RoboRXN (2021) Current status: not confirmed IBM’s main role is step 2 (predict and design); step 1 is public data, step 3 a paper’s tests Its own lab capacity, and the scale of any business that gathers materials data, are not in the public record Main role Partial / what we could confirm
Illustration Which part of the MI flow (data, predict and design, experiment) IBM covers. The grouping is our own reading of public sources Our calculation. Training data: Reference 3, 5, 9; measurements: Reference 15.

For the basics of MI, see our explainer “Introduction to Materials Informatics”; for how molecules are fed to machines, see “Materials Data and Descriptors” and “Graph Neural Networks”.

4. Scale (the whole company in brief)

Only IBM’s overall size is given here Sourced.

ItemFY2024 (to Dec 2024)FY2025 (to Dec 2025)
Revenue (US$ million)62,75367,535
R&D expense (US$ million)7,4798,316
ItemDetail
Employees (31 December 2025)IBM and wholly owned subsidiaries: 264.3 thousand (8.7 thousand in less-than-wholly owned subsidiaries and 13.8 thousand complementary workforce are shown separately)
HeadquartersArmonk, New York, USA (an owned site)
ListingNew York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
A caution

These figures are for the whole company. They do not show the scale of materials AI research. The US$8,316 million of R&D is company-wide, and the annual report attributes the increase mainly to investment in AI, hybrid cloud and quantum, with no materials breakdown. IBM discloses none of the revenue, investment or dedicated headcount for materials AI research Not yet confirmed.

5. Resources committed to materials informatics

Amounts and headcounts are not disclosed, but the official sources do show what is being put in. Items we could not confirm are marked as not found.

Type of resourceWhat we foundType
PeopleDedicated headcount for materials AI research is not disclosed. IBM’s blog names Seiji Takeda (principal scientist) and Emilio Vital Brazil (senior scientist) as co-leads of FM4M. Official sources point to research sites in Tokyo (the director of IBM Research – Tokyo appears in JSR’s release) and Zurich (the 2021 RXN release, and a 2022 blog post by IBM Research Europe)Sourced (headcount not disclosed)
MoneyCompany-wide R&D expense was US$8,316 million in 2025. Budget, capital spending and compute investment for materials AI research are not disclosedSourced (no breakdown)
Equity stakes, acquisitions, joint ventures, divestituresThe Form 10-K and annual report contain no mention of equity stakes, acquisitions, joint ventures or sales related to materials AINot found
Universities, research institutes and public fundingThe AI Alliance working group for materials and chemistry (WG4M) has about 20 corporate and academic participants (IBM blog, December 2024). An agreement with JSR on a joint AI research program (November 2025). Public funding such as DOE, NSF or NEDO is not mentioned in the sources we checkedSourced (public funding not found)

Status of the main models and products

These are the main materials and chemistry models that IBM Research has published. Dates are repository creation dates on Hugging Face or GitHub (not necessarily the day public use began) or paper dates. Performance figures are claims by the company or study team and were not reproduced for this article.

NameKindMain specifications (published training data, target)Release form and licenseStageDateSource
SMI-TEDChemical language model (encoder-decoder)Trained on about 91 million SMILES from PubChem (about 4 billion tokens). Two variants, 289M and 8x289M. The paper reports that it matches or exceeds existing approaches on benchmarksApache-2.0; weights publicReleasedHF 25 Jul 2024; paper 1 Jul 2025Reference 5, 14
SELFIES-TEDChemical language model (SELFIES)IBM’s blog says about 1 billion SELFIES samples (see the note below on data sources)Apache-2.0ReleasedHF 25 Oct 2024Reference 7, 3
MHG-GEDMolecular-graph modelTrained on about 1.34 million molecules from PubChem (the blog says about 1.4 million)Apache-2.0ReleasedHF 25 Oct 2024Reference 6, 3
MoL-MoEMixture of experts that combines three representations12 experts: four each for SMILES, SELFIES and molecular graphs. IBM reports it beat single-representation models on MoleculeNet classification and regression (split and metric details are not in the blog)Apache-2.0ReleasedHF 12 Jun 2025Reference 8, 3
pos-egnnGraph model that handles atomic positions (foundation model)Trained on about 1.4 million samples (90%) of the Materials Project Trajectory (MPtrj) dataset to predict energies, forces and stressApache-2.0ReleasedHF 21 Mar 2025Reference 9
GeoditeArchitecture for a universal machine-learning interatomic potentialAvoids tensor products to cut computation. The card shows how to use Geodite-MP, trained on MPtrj. The citation field on the card reads “TODO”, and we could not find a paperApache-2.0Released (paper not found)HF 3 Nov 2025Reference 10
STR-BambaEncoder-decoder for many text forms of moleculesTrained on 588 million samples (about 29 billion tokens). Handles SMILES, SELFIES, molecular formula, InChI, IUPAC name, polymer SMILES and formulationsApache-2.0ReleasedHF 11 Dec 2025Reference 11
GT4SDToolkit for generative modelsAn open-source toolbox for generating candidate molecules and materialsMITReleasedGitHub created 11 Feb 2022Reference 13, 4
RXN for Chemistry / RoboRXNAI for reaction prediction, and a cloud lab that synthesizes with robotsThe 2021 release says it began in 2018, with more than 29,000 users, over 5 million reaction predictions and over 90% accuracy on forward predictions (company claims). We could not confirm the 2026 operating statusDelivery form not confirmedAs stated in 2021Nov 2021Reference 18
A note on where the training data came from

IBM’s blog says SMILES-TED and SELFIES-TED were trained on data “from PubChem and Zinc-22”. The SMI-TED paper and model card, however, say 91 million samples from PubChem and do not mention Zinc-22. Because details may differ, this article gives priority to the primary source for each model (paper or model card) and marks blog statements as “according to the blog”.

6. What it has done so far

WhenWhat happenedWhy it matters
2018RXN for Chemistry (AI reaction prediction) began (per the 2021 release)The work started in chemical synthesis rather than in materials as such
Nov 2021IBM announced RoboRXN links with Atinary, Arctoris, Chemspeed Technologies, Syngenta and Thieme ChemistryConnections to synthesis automation, reaction data and lab equipment. Current status not confirmed
Jun 2022An IBM blog post described AI inverse design of CO2-separation-membrane monomers and high-throughput computation for battery electrolytesThe blog itself separates the computed estimates from molecular dynamics from experimental confirmation
Spring 2024IBM and JSR launched the AI Alliance working group for materials and chemistry (WG4M), per IBM’s blogAbout 20 corporate and academic participants working on foundation models, datasets and benchmarks
Jul 2024FM4M release began (GitHub repository created 24 July; SMI-TED registered on Hugging Face 25 July)The start of open release of materials models
Oct 2024SELFIES-TED and MHG-GED releasedThe three molecular representations were now all covered
20 Dec 2024IBM’s blog reported more than 100,000 downloads in a few monthsA company statement. Downloads do not directly show use or results
Mar 2025A preprint on electrolyte search appeared (pos-egnn was also registered)An example of a public model applied to a real materials search
1 Jul 2025The SMI-TED paper was published in Communications ChemistryPerformance reported in a peer-reviewed paper
30 Aug 2025The electrolyte paper (IBM’s publication page lists npj Computational Materials)We did not check the journal version
Nov 2025JSR and IBM agreed on a joint AI research program (4 November). Geodite (3 November) and STR-Bamba (11 December) were registeredThe joint research is at the announcement stage; no results are stated

7. What comes next

JOINT RESEARCH WITH JSRJoint AI research programAims at a platform that handles several materials systems at once (JSR release)
MODEL EXPANSIONModels that handle 3D atomic positions and morePlanned “in the coming year” in the December 2024 blog. pos-egnn for atomic positions was released in 2025
MATERIALS PRODUCTNot confirmedNo plan to offer it as a paid product or service
NEXT MODEL RELEASENot confirmedNo roadmap stated

JSR’s release describes working with IBM on an “expanded foundation model for materials” and a data platform built with generative AI, to create a platform that handles several materials systems at once Not yet confirmed. It states no funding, period or success measure.

IBM’s blog (December 2024) says it plans, “in the coming year”, to release new fusion techniques and models built on additional data modalities, including the positions of atoms in 3D space Not yet confirmed. pos-egnn, which handles atomic positions, was registered on Hugging Face in March 2025 Sourced.

What we could not confirm

None of the following is stated in the official sources we checked Not yet confirmed.

The budget and headcount for materials AI research; the next release date for materials models; any paid service for materials AI; the term and deliverables of the JSR research; and RoboRXN’s current availability. Press-based talk of IBM launching a materials product in a given year is not used in this article.

8. What the company is aiming for in materials informatics

This part includes things the company does not say directly. It is our reading of the primary sources, written with the evidence for each point.

What we read from itPrimary evidenceType
Materials AI is mainly open publication of research results, not a productThe models are public on GitHub and Hugging Face under Apache-2.0. The Form 10-K and annual report have no materials-discovery section, and we found no paid offeringInference
It works by putting the models to use with partner companiesThe AI joint research program with JSR, and the AI Alliance WG4M (about 20 companies and universities)Inference
Fine-tuning on small data is the practical focusThe blog says anyone with a small amount of data can customize the models. In the electrolyte example, 13,666 measurements were used for fine-tuningInference
Combining several molecular representations is a pillar of the technologyThree models (SMI-TED, SELFIES-TED, MHG-GED), MoL-MoE, and STR-Bamba’s multi-representation supportSourced
It is extending to machine-learning interatomic potentials that handle atomic positions directlypos-egnn (March 2025) and Geodite (November 2025) were released. We found no paper for GeoditeInference
One piece of evidence in detail

In the electrolyte search, the public model (SMI-TED) was fine-tuned on 13,666 literature values, about 100,000 candidates were screened by computation, and 16 formulations were measured Sourced. The setup shows a public model’s value as something a company can tailor with a small amount of its own data, not only something for those with huge datasets. From this we read IBM as aiming to provide a base on which materials companies grow models from their own data Not yet confirmed.

9. Map of materials informatics partnerships

Materials AI partnerships centered on IBM Only ties stated in IBM's own material, JSR's release and the model cards; no press-based ties IBM IBM Research JSR Joint AI research agreed (Nov 2025) Co-launched WG4M (spring 2024) AI Alliance WG4M About 20 companies, universities Models, datasets, benchmarks GitHub / Hugging Face Models released as Apache-2.0 A venue, not a company Syngenta Putting RXN technology into its materials discovery flow (2021) Chemspeed Technologies Offers RoboRXN alongside its automated synthesis (2021) Thieme Chemistry Synthesis datasets built into RXN (2021) Atinary / Arctoris (2021 links) Co-development / adoption Data or a venue for release
Fig. 2 Materials AI partnerships centered on IBM. Sources: JSR news release, IBM Research blog, IBM newsroom (November 2021). The 2021 ties (Syngenta, Chemspeed, Thieme, Atinary, Arctoris) come from the announcements of that time, and we could not confirm that they continue.

10. Technology, products and services

Three ways to feed molecules to AI

To train AI on molecules, you first need to turn each molecule into a form a computer can read. IBM builds a separate model for each way of writing a molecule and then mixes them (according to IBM’s blog).

RepresentationWhat it isStrengthWeakness (per IBM’s blog)
SMILESA molecule written as one line of text (ethanol is CCO)Being text, it can use language-model technology directly. Huge databases existIt loses 3D information, so AI can produce invalid molecules
SELFIESA refined text form whose grammar always gives a valid moleculeBroken molecules are less likelyIt also carries no 3D information
Molecular graph (MHG)Atoms as points and bonds as linesHandles how atoms connect directlyHeavy computation

The three models (SMI-TED, SELFIES-TED, MHG-GED) are each pre-trained on their own representation. MoL-MoE uses a “mixture of experts”: for each query it picks the experts best suited and blends their answers. According to IBM’s blog, the model that mixes the three representations beat single-representation models on MoleculeNet (a benchmark set from Stanford for predicting molecular properties), on classification (for example whether a molecule is toxic) and regression (for example how well it dissolves in water). However, the blog gives no data split, metric or numbers, so this article treats the comparison as the company’s claim and does not rank models.

An example: searching for electrolytes with a public model

IBM’s researchers applied the public model (SMI-TED) to battery electrolytes (as stated in preprint v2; these are the study team’s claims).

Narrow down with the model, then measure to check Figures are as stated in the preprint (arXiv:2503.14878 v2); the study team’s claims 1 Fine-tune Literature values: 13,666 data points used to train SMI-TED for ionic conductivity 2 Generate Salt + up to 5 solvents; about 100,000 candidates created and their conductivity predicted 3 Measure 16 top-predicted formulations measured at room temperature (limited to molecules that could be sourced) 4 Result 7 of 16 above 10 mS/cm Best LiFSI case: 19.14 mS/cm (predicted 10.52) Prediction narrowed the candidates and measurement checked them; the best case was under-predicted Only room-temperature ionic conductivity was assessed; cell life, safety and cost were not (in the preprint)
Illustration IBM’s electrolyte search procedure (per the preprint). The 10 mS/cm threshold was set from the conductivity of 1 M LiPF6 in EC/DMC/EMC (1:1:1 by volume). The team made the measurements itself, and we could not confirm an independent reproduction.

The reported numbers are as follows Sourced (all are the study team’s reports).

ItemWhat the preprint statesHow to read it
Fine-tuning data13,666 ionic-conductivity values collected from the lithium-ion battery literature (non-aqueous electrolytes)A patchwork of data measured under different conditions
Number of candidatesAbout 100,000 computer-generated formulations predicted with the fine-tuned modelThis is a computed prediction, not an experiment
Number measured16 formulations chosen and measured for ionic conductivity at room temperatureChosen for high predicted conductivity and salt diversity
Number above the threshold7 of 16 above 10 mS/cm (a 44% success rate)The threshold is the conductivity of 1 M LiPF6 in EC/DMC/EMC
Best LiFSI case19.14 mS/cm, 82% above the best in the literature set. The model predicted 10.52 mS/cm, an underprediction“Best” is relative to the same literature dataset
LiDFOB casesA formulation 172% more conductive than the best in the literatureWe did not check the individual value
A materials engineer’s view: what to read when you try this on your own small data

Three points matter to a materials engineer here Sourced. (1) The gap between prediction and measurement: for the best formulation, the prediction was 10.52 and the measurement 19.14 mS/cm, a large mismatch. The paper says the trend was validated, which also means the numbers themselves cannot be taken at face value. (2) The narrow set of properties: only ionic conductivity was measured; cell life, safety, compatibility with electrodes and cost are separate questions. A highly conductive formulation is not automatically a usable electrolyte. (3) Data quality: the 13,666 values are a patchwork from the literature. If you try the same approach with your own data, more data measured under uniform conditions may shrink the gap between prediction and measurement (an inference).

The paper itself also says that correlations among variables were mostly weak and uninformative, and that interpretation methods are needed. Whether a person can make chemical sense of why the AI picked a formulation remains an open problem.

11. The risks this company carries

RiskDetailType
Materials effort and investment are invisibleHeadcount, budget and revenue are all undisclosed, so progress is hard to check from outsideSourced
Comparison conditions are limitedThe MoL-MoE comparison has no numbers in IBM’s blog, and the data split and metric cannot be checkedSourced
Experimental confirmation is limitedThe measured results are mainly ionic conductivity at room temperature for 16 formulations; we found no independent reproductionSourced
Some models lack a paperGeodite’s model card has “TODO” in the citation field, and we found no paperSourced
RoboRXN’s status is unclearWe could not confirm operations after the 2021 figures (users, predictions)Sourced
Joint research is at the plan stageThe JSR research is at the announcement stage with no term or deliverables statedNot yet confirmed
Sources disagreeThe blog and the model cards or papers describe the origin of training data differentlySourced
No visible path to a paid serviceOpen release is the focus, and no monetization policy is confirmedInference

12. Glossary

Materials informatics (MI)
Finding new materials with materials data plus AI and computation, in the flow of data, then predict and design, then experiment.
Foundation model
A large AI model pre-trained on a great deal of data, which can then be adapted to another use with a small amount of data.
Fine-tuning
Training a pre-trained model further on your own data to suit your use.
SMILES / SELFIES
Ways to write a molecule as text. SELFIES is a refinement that is less likely to produce broken molecules.
Molecular graph
A representation of a molecule with atoms as points and bonds as lines.
Encoder-decoder
A model made of a part that turns input into a list of numbers (an embedding) and a part that turns it back.
Mixture of experts (MoE)
A scheme that picks, case by case, the most suitable among several “expert” models.
Machine-learning interatomic potential (MLIP)
A machine-learning model that predicts energy and forces from atomic positions faster than quantum calculations.
Ionic conductivity
How easily an electrolyte lets ions pass. The unit is mS/cm.
Inverse design
Starting from the properties you want and searching for molecules or materials that have them.
MoleculeNet
A public benchmark collection for comparing models that predict molecular properties.
Form 10-K
The annual report that US-listed companies file with the SEC.
Combine data infrastructure, computational tools and research workflows, without implying one technology solves every materials problem.
Fig. 3. Conceptual illustration generated with ImageGen. Combine data infrastructure, computational tools and research workflows, without implying one technology solves every materials problem.Not an actual product, facility or measurement. Enlarged models, lines, arrows and colours are explanatory.

13. References

  1. IBM Form 10-K for the year ended 31 December 2025 (filed 24 February 2026). Headquarters, listing and business description; checked for any mention of materials discovery. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231.htm
  2. IBM 2025 Annual Report to Stockholders (Exhibit 13 to the Form 10-K above). Revenue, R&D expense and headcount. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231_d2.htm
  3. IBM Research Blog post “Meet IBM’s new family of AI models for materials discovery” (20 December 2024). FM4M overview, training-data sizes, mixture of experts (MoE), and the AI Alliance WG4M. https://research.ibm.com/blog/foundation-models-for-materials
  4. IBM Research Blog post “new sustainable materials” (27 June 2022). AI for CO2 membranes, battery electrolytes and biodegradable plastics, with computed and experimental results kept apart. https://research.ibm.com/blog/new-sustainable-materials
  5. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.smi-ted (SMI-TED). Training data, model sizes and license (Apache-2.0). https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.smi-ted
  6. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.mhg-ged (MHG-GED). Training data and license. https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.mhg-ged
  7. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.selfies-ted (SELFIES-TED). https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.selfies-ted
  8. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.mol_moe (MoL-MoE). The 12-expert layout. https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.mol_moe
  9. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.pos-egnn (pos-egnn). Training data (MPtrj) and license. https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.pos-egnn
  10. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.geodite (Geodite). Architecture of a machine-learning interatomic potential. https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.geodite
  11. IBM Research Hugging Face model card materials.str-bamba (STR-Bamba). Training-data size and supported molecular representations. https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.str-bamba
  12. IBM GitHub IBM/materials (FM4M). License (Apache-2.0) and repository record. https://github.com/IBM/materials
  13. GT4SD (originating from IBM Research) GitHub GT4SD/gt4sd-core. Generative-model toolkit. License (MIT). https://github.com/GT4SD/gt4sd-core
  14. Soares et al. “An open-source family of large encoder-decoder foundation models for chemistry”, Communications Chemistry 8, 193 (1 July 2025, DOI 10.1038/s42004-025-01585-0). https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-025-01585-0
  15. Zohair et al. “Chemical Foundation Model Guided Design of High Ionic Conductivity Electrolyte Formulations”, arXiv:2503.14878 (March 2025, v2). The electrolyte search procedure and measured results. https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.14878
  16. IBM Research IBM publication page for the electrolyte paper above. It lists the venue as npj Computational Materials (30 August 2025). https://research.ibm.com/publications/chemical-foundation-model-guided-design-of-high-ionic-conductivity-electrolyte-formulations
  17. JSR News release (4 November 2025). JSR and IBM agree to start a joint AI research program. https://jsr.co.jp/jsr_e/news/2025/20251104.html
  18. IBM Newsroom release “IBM Expands AI-Driven Materials Discovery Capabilities and Signs New Industry Collaborations” (29 November 2021). RXN for Chemistry, RoboRXN and partners. https://uk.newsroom.ibm.com/2021-11-29-IBM-Expands-AI-Driven-Materials-Discovery-Capabilities-and-Signs-New-Industry-Collaborations
  19. IBM Official website (source of the logo; used to check the company profile). https://www.ibm.com/

14. Claim-to-source audit

Claim in the textTypeSource
Legal name, headquarters and listingSourcedReference 1 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231.htm
Revenue and R&D expense (2024 and 2025); 264.3 thousand employeesSourcedReference 2 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231_d2.htm
The Form 10-K and annual report contain no materials-discovery mention, as far as we checkedSourcedReference 1 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231.htm Reference 2 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/51143/000005114326000010/ibm-20251231_d2.htm
FM4M model names, training-data sizes and release form (Apache-2.0)SourcedReference 3 https://research.ibm.com/blog/foundation-models-for-materials Reference 5 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.smi-ted Reference 6 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.mhg-ged Reference 7 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.selfies-ted Reference 8 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.mol_moe Reference 9 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.pos-egnn Reference 10 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.geodite Reference 11 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.str-bamba Reference 12 https://github.com/IBM/materials
SMI-TED trained on 91 million SMILES (from PubChem) and published in Communications ChemistrySourcedReference 14 https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-025-01585-0 Reference 5 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.smi-ted
Three molecular representations, the MoE mixing, and the MoleculeNet comparison (company claim)SourcedReference 3 https://research.ibm.com/blog/foundation-models-for-materials
The blog and the model cards or papers differ on where the training data came fromSourcedReference 3 https://research.ibm.com/blog/foundation-models-for-materials Reference 5 https://huggingface.co/ibm-research/materials.smi-ted Reference 14 https://www.nature.com/articles/s42004-025-01585-0
Electrolyte search: 13,666 values, about 100,000 predictions, 16 measured, 7 above threshold, LiFSI case 19.14 mS/cm (the study team’s report)SourcedReference 15 https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.14878
IBM’s publication page lists the electrolyte paper under npj Computational Materials (30 August 2025)SourcedReference 16 https://research.ibm.com/publications/chemical-foundation-model-guided-design-of-high-ionic-conductivity-electrolyte-formulations
JSR and IBM agreed on a joint AI research program (4 November 2025) and its aimsSourcedReference 17 https://jsr.co.jp/jsr_e/news/2025/20251104.html
AI Alliance WG4M (launched by IBM and JSR in spring 2024, about 20 participants)SourcedReference 3 https://research.ibm.com/blog/foundation-models-for-materials
The 2021 RXN and RoboRXN announcement, partners (Atinary, Arctoris, Chemspeed, Syngenta, Thieme) and usage figuresSourcedReference 18 https://uk.newsroom.ibm.com/2021-11-29-IBM-Expands-AI-Driven-Materials-Discovery-Capabilities-and-Signs-New-Industry-Collaborations
The 2022 blog: monomer performance is a computed molecular-dynamics estimateSourcedReference 4 https://research.ibm.com/blog/new-sustainable-materials
GT4SD license (MIT) and repository creation dateSourcedReference 13 https://github.com/GT4SD/gt4sd-core
Placement on the three steps of MI (data, predict and design, experiment)Our calculationOur own grouping from public sources (this article)
Revenue, investment and dedicated headcount for materials AI researchNot yet confirmedNone are disclosed, and this article does not estimate them (not stated in the sources checked for this article)
Equity stakes, acquisitions and public funding (DOE, NSF, NEDO and so on) for materials AINot yet confirmedNot stated in References 1 and 2; this article does not assert that none exist
RoboRXN's status in 2026, a Geodite paper, the next model release date, and any plan for a paid serviceNot yet confirmedCould not be confirmed; this article does not guess
Reading: materials AI is mainly open publication of research, not a productInferenceOur own interpretation from the release form and the Form 10-K
Reading: models are put to work through joint research with partner companiesInferenceOur own interpretation from the JSR agreement and WG4M
Reading: fine-tuning on small data is the practical focusInferenceOur own interpretation from the blog and the electrolyte example
Reading: IBM aims to supply a base on which materials companies grow models from their own dataInferenceOur own interpretation from the electrolyte example
Risk: no visible path to monetizationInferenceOur own interpretation from the release form

Last updated 22 October 2026 / Troy Technical
The figures in this article rest on IBM’s SEC filings, IBM Research’s official material, model cards, papers, and JSR’s official release. Market-research estimates and press-only figures are not used. Figures described as claims by the company or study team were not reproduced or verified here. Items marked “Inference” are our own reading of the primary sources and are not statements by the company.

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