Say the application that has not been attributed to generative AI by now. Anything from your virtual boyfriend/girlfriend to vaccines and the energy transition will apparently be solved by the tech currently sweeping the globe. PhysicsX, a UK-based startup “on a mission to reimagine simulation for science and engineering using AI,” wants to add advanced tech superpowers to the list.
The company, with a team of more than 50 simulation engineers, machine learning and software engineers, and data scientists is building AI it says will dramatically accelerate accurate physics simulation. This will enable generative engineering solutions for sectors including aerospace, automotive, renewables, and materials production.
PhysicsX says it is looking to solve engineering bottlenecks. These include time-consuming physics simulation, painstaking reconciliation of virtual simulation and real-world data collection, as well as the many limitations of optimising over a large design space.
The company, co-founded by theoretical physicist and former head of R&D at Formula One team Renault (Alpine) Robin Tuluie, just announced a €30mn Series A funding round led by US-based VC firm General Catalyst.
“Engineering design processes were transformed by numerical simulation and the availability of high-performance compute infrastructure,” Tuluie, also the company’s co-CEO, commented.
“The move from numerical simulation to deep learning represents a similar leap and will unlock new levels of product performance and ways of practising engineering itself. PhysicsX exists to help pioneer and enable that transformation, giving engineers and manufacturers superpowers in bringing new technologies to the real world.”
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Coming up against the limit of today’s computational tools
Standard Industries, NGP Energy, Radius Capital, and KKR co-founder and co-executive chairman, Henry Kravis, also participated in the round. The capital will allow PhysicsX to grow across customer delivery and product. It will also support its fundamental research to advance its AI models and methods.
“Our customers are designing the most important technologies of our time, including wind turbines, aircraft engines, electric vehicles, semiconductors, metals, and biofuels,” Jacomo Corbo, co-founder and co-CEO, said. However, they are now exceeding the limits of today’s computer aided tools, which is what PhysicsX has set its technology against.
“We’re delighted that this financing will enable us to partner more deeply with our customers to enable breakthrough engineering,” Corbo added.