Building the materials foundation for AI

The AI Boom as a Materials Challenge

The AI boom is becoming a materials challenge. As AI pushes computing into new territory, the materials behind that infrastructure are becoming just as crucial as the algorithms running on it. Semiconductors and data centers are approaching physical limits around performance, thermal management, electrical efficiency, and reliability, creating new demands for materials that can do more at once.

At the same time, AI is giving materials scientists new ways to search the enormous universe of possible molecules and accelerate the development of solutions. For Mike Finelli, chief technology and innovation officer and chief North America officer at Syensqo, that convergence is transforming what advanced materials can enable.

“AI is now, from a material standpoint, really pushing semiconductors and the data centers to their physical limits,” he says. As requirements accumulate, including high temperature, purity, electrical performance, chemical resistance, plasma resistance, and long-term stability, materials move toward what Finelli calls the “top of the pyramid.”

Beyond supporting AI innovation, he contends that advanced materials are “actually increasingly defining what's going to be possible.”

Syensqo's Role and the Semiconductor Evolution

Syensqo is a global leader in specialty materials. The company develops materials that deliver higher performance, greater reliability, and increasingly sustainable solutions. Finelli notes that 20% of annual revenues come from new products and applications launched in the last five years.

Electronics and semiconductors have been strategic markets for Syensqo for decades. The company has supported successive waves of innovation, from enabling smaller mobile devices to advancing hyperconnectivity. Today, it helps advance the AI era with one of the industry's broadest portfolios of high-performance polymers and advanced materials.

Syensqo supports applications across the entire electronics value chain, from semiconductor fabrication and electronic components to smart devices and telecommunications. Its materials help customers solve challenges around miniaturization, thermal management, electrical performance, chemical resistance, high purity, and long-term reliability and sustainability.

Advanced Materials at the Top of the Pyramid

Finelli describes the materials landscape as a “performance pyramid,” with commodity materials at the bottom and high-performing specialty materials at the top. Syensqo operates at the top and continually works to raise that top by developing newer, higher-performing materials.

The need for specialty materials is driven by what Finelli calls the “and, and, and principle.” If a material simply needs to sit at room temperature without changing, many commodity materials suffice. However, the minute additional requirements are added-such as high temperature and high purity and electrical performance and chemical resistance and plasma resistance and long-term stability-the material must move to the top of the pyramid.

AI is increasing the number of these “ands” for semiconductor chips and data centers due to its rapid pace of advancement, pushing the limits of existing materials. Finelli believes that advanced materials are no longer just supporting AI innovation; they are increasingly defining what is possible.

Developing Solutions for Next-Generation Infrastructure

Syensqo is developing materials for high-voltage data center architectures, advanced sealing materials for semiconductor manufacturing, and thermal-management solutions including fluids for direct immersion cooling.

One example is work on materials for next-generation AI data centers moving toward high-voltage architectures. These architectures enable greater computing power while improving energy efficiency by reducing energy losses, potentially lowering the environmental footprint.

Another example involves high-performing sealing materials for semiconductor fabs and wafer tools. The seals around the extreme-environment chambers where silicon wafers are processed must withstand aggressive plasmas and reactive chemicals while requiring higher temperatures, lower outgassing, and purity. Syensqo is pushing the limits of these materials to enable the next generation of chip production.

Cross-Industry Innovation and Sustainability

Some innovations can cross industry boundaries. Materials developed for electric vehicles (EVs) can help address the higher voltage and energy-density demands emerging in data centers. For instance, the high-voltage systems in EVs require insulating polymers that withstand rapid temperature increases, and these materials are translatable to data center applications.

The definition of performance is also changing. More customers expect materials to meet technical requirements while reducing environmental impact. “Our goal is to remove the trade-off between performance and sustainability,” Finelli says. This means considering sustainability at the beginning of the research process rather than treating it as an additional requirement after development.

AI's Role in Accelerating Materials Discovery

AI is changing how materials are discovered. Syensqo uses AI agents to digitally synthesize millions of potential molecular combinations, predict their performance and sustainability characteristics, and narrow them down to a much smaller group for laboratory testing. This allows the company to go “broader, deeper, and faster,” giving scientists more time to solve complex engineering problems.

Looking to the future, Finelli sees a reinforcing cycle: AI helps develop materials that improve AI infrastructure, which in turn enables better AI to accelerate materials discovery. This feedback loop could create a cycle of innovation and expand what future technologies can achieve.

“You end up in this accelerated materials, innovative cycle of materials innovation,” says Finelli. “That really excites me, and it gives us the opportunity to continue enabling technologies that will shape the future.”