Ex-OpenAI VP and DeepMind materials chief just raised the largest seed round of 2025.

Periodic Labs closed $300M seed to build AI scientists that automate materials discovery. Founded by Liam Fedus (ChatGPT co-creator, ex-OpenAI VP) and Ekin Dogus Cubuk (led DeepMind's GNoME project that discovered 2M+ new crystals).

• $300M seed led by a16z, DST, Nvidia, Accel
• Backers: Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt, Jeff Dean
• Pre-money valuation: $1B
• Goal: Room-temperature superconductors
• Team: 25+ researchers from Meta, OpenAI, Samsung

How it happened:
• Cubuk built GNoME at DeepMind → discovered 2M crystals
• Fedus co-created ChatGPT → left OpenAI as VP Research
• March 2025: Co-founded Periodic Labs
• Recruited 25+ top AI/materials researchers
• Pitched autonomous labs + fresh training data angle
• Closed $300M from tech elite in 6 months

Takeaway: Elite AI talent + hard science focus = mega rounds.

Source: TechCrunch

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