Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Robot chemist sparks row with claim it created new materials

Researchers question whether an AI-controlled lab assistant actually made any novel substances.
  1. Mark Peplow
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

A-Lab with a robot and chemical containers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, California, U.S.

The A-Lab, housed at LBNL, uses robots to mix and heat powdered solid ingredients to build various materials. Credit: Marilyn Sargent, Multimedia Prod

An autonomous laboratory assistant that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics to cook up new materials has come under fire from researchers who dispute its discoveries.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-03956-w

Updates & Corrections

  • Update 09 January 2024: This story has been updated to reflect that Palgrave and Schoop’s teams have now posted a report to a preprint server analysing in detail the claims in the 29 November Nature paper about the A-Lab.

References

  1. Szymanski, N. J. et al. Nature 624, 86–91 (2023).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Lunt, A. M. et al. Preprint at https://arxiv.org/abs/2309.00544 (2023).

  3. Szymanski, N. J., Bartel, C. J., Zeng, Y., Tu, Q. & Ceder, G. Chem. Mater. 33, 4202–4215 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Szymanski, N. J. et al. npj Comput. Mater. 9, 31 (2023).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Leeman, J. et al. Preprint at ChemRxiv https://doi.org/10.26434/chemrxiv-2024-5p9j4 (2024).

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links