Microsoft Azure: Microsoft and PNNL to conduct battery materials research

Microsoft and the US Department of Energy's (DOE) Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have partnered to find the best materials for batteries. Using Microsoft's Azure Quantum Elements, they have reduced the possibilities of materials from millions to only a few options, with one currently in the prototype stage.

In a post by Microsoft, the company noted, "Azure Quantum Elements offers a cloud computing system designed for chemistry and materials science research with an eye toward eventual quantum computing and is already working on these kinds of models, tools, and workflows."

Tony Peurrung, PNNL deputy director for Science and Technology, said, “The intersection of AI, cloud and high-performance computing, along with human scientists, we believe is key to accelerating the path to meaningful scientific results. Our collaboration with Microsoft is about making AI accessible to scientists. We see the potential for AI to surface a material or an approach that is unexpected or unconventional yet worth investigating. This is a first step in what promises to be an interesting journey to accelerate the pace of scientific discovery.”