XtalPi Hosts 'New Paradigm in Synthetic Chemistry: AI-Integrated Robotics' Symposium and Submits Hong Kong IPO Prospectus

Jul 01, 2025 19:01 CST Updated 19:01

XtalPi

Computation-Driven Innovative Drug R&D Provider

The "New Paradigm of Synthetic Chemistry Research – Robotics Integrated with AI Symposium," hosted by XtalPi, with academic support from the Hefei Pioneer Functional Molecule Research Institute and technical support from Huilian Huitong, successfully concluded in Shanghai on June 28-29, 2025. The conference was chaired by Academician Shengming Ma of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also an academician of the Third World Academy of Sciences, and a professor and doctoral supervisor at Fudan University. The event also specially invited Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Director of the National Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering and Industrial Catalysis, and researcher at Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Research.Yang Weimin, Dean of the Academy, Zhu Shoufei, Vice President and Professor of Nankai University, Fang Qun, Qiushi Distinguished Professor of the Department of Chemistry at Zhejiang University, Ma Jian, Co-founder and CEO of XtalPi, along with guests from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, Guangzhou National Laboratory, and Roche China, delivered keynote speeches and participated in panel discussions. The two-day seminar not only brought together more than 300 industry-academia-research workers from across China to explore new paradigms of AI and robotics empowering fundamental scientific research innovation but also attracted over ten thousand online viewers to participate actively.

This conference focuses on"Integration of Robotics and Artificial Intelligence"As the core theme, hundreds of experts in the field of synthetic chemistry from academia and industry gathered to discuss the cutting-edge applications of robotics, AI, and their technological integration in chemical synthesis, envisioning innovative approaches and future prospects for synthetic chemistry amidst the wave of automation, data-driven processes, and intelligence.

As the application of artificial intelligence technology continues to deepen in both industry and academia, and with the ongoing advancements in laboratory robotics within the field of chemical automation, synthetic chemistry research is moving towards comprehensive, in-depth automation, digitization, and intelligence. How to accelerate material discovery through the integration of "AI + robotics," exploring a broader chemical space in both the digital and physical worlds; how to achieve a paradigm shift in the efficiency of chemical synthesis through extensive collaboration between industry, academia, and research; how can China’s artificial intelligence technology overtake others in fundamental research fields like synthetic chemistry… These issues, spanning across industry, academia, and research, are gradually becoming bottlenecks in the development of synthetic chemistry.

Synthetic chemistry, as a core discipline in the study of material creation and transformation, is a central method for humanity to explore new molecules and create new substances. From synthetic ammonia — the foundational material for fertilizers and explosives, to nylon — the ancestor of artificial synthetic materials, to penicillin — the first antibiotic in human history; every breakthrough in synthetic chemistry reshapes our daily lives in terms of clothing, food, housing, and transportation, and profoundly drives the progress of human civilization. However, as societal development demands higher performance from new molecules, and as scientists continuously explore broader and more complex chemical spaces, the traditional research paradigm that relies on experimental experience and manual operations can no longer meet the needs of next-generation synthetic chemistry research.

Since the 1970s, the rapid development of computers, AI, automation, and cloud computing has driven synthetic chemistry to shift from experience-driven to data-driven and intelligence-driven. Advancing experimental prediction and design using AI models, and enhancing experimental efficiency through robotic automation technology, have become key trends in the evolution of synthetic chemistry experiments. A-Lab, a new automated laboratory at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the United States, operates robots around the clock and has synthesized various novel materials, accelerating discoveries in materials science. The cover of *Nature* magazine once featured a report on a pioneering robot chemist developed by the University of Liverpool in the UK, which discovered a new catalyst through "non-stop day-and-night work." Its new advancements in autonomously planning and continuously executing chemical experiments earned it a second feature in *Nature*. "Robotics + AI" is reshaping research paradigms, accelerating the discovery and industrialization of new substances, and bringing profound transformations to the field of chemical science.

On the morning of June 28, the conference opened with welcome speeches from Academician Shengming Ma of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Dr. Jian Ma, co-founder/CEO of XtalPi. Academician Ma delivered a presentation titled "ATA, Automation, and Machine Learning," introducing the development history and current challenges of ATA reactions (Allenation of Terminal Alkynes). He shared the progress of collaborating with XtalPi to develop and optimize an automated synthesis platform for ATA reaction research, as well as the platform's application—acquiring more high-quality data through the jointly developed platform has advanced machine learning practices, further expanding ATA reactions in the hope of overcoming current bottlenecks and fully achieving ATA reactions under mild conditions.

Academician Ming Ma

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Academician of the Third World Academy of Sciences,

Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Fudan University

Academician Wei-Min Yang of the Chinese Academy of Engineering gave a presentation titled "Creation and Application of Zeolite Catalytic Materials — From Data-Driven to Artificial Intelligence," sharing insights on catalytic materials, which are at the core of the modern chemical industry. Their innovation and development are crucial for advancing technology in the chemical engineering field. As data-driven research paradigms gradually emerge, a new paradigm for creating catalytic materials can be developed by integrating artificial intelligence based on materials genome engineering technology, significantly shortening the R&D cycle and promoting the efficient development of new catalytic materials.

Academician Wei-Min Yang

Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering,

Director of the National Key Laboratory of Green Chemical Engineering and Industrial Catalysis,

President of Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical Research Institute

XtalPi Co-founder and CEO Dr. Jian Ma Delivered a Keynote Speech Entitled "AI Chemistry, From Micro to Macro". He mentioned that chemistry is a discipline that connects the micro and macro levels, impacting society in both time and space dimensions. Through chemical research, humans have been able to develop more new drugs, extending life expectancy; synthetic chemical materials, whether for materials or energy, allow us to go further and faster. Reviewing XtalPi's development over the past decade, he emphasized that the company has expanded its application scenarios and industry value in the AI-driven material discovery (AI4S) field through exploration and industrial application in areas such as crystal structure prediction, drug discovery, and robotic automated experiments. He further introduced XtalPi's self-developed intelligent autonomous experimentation platform, which combines automated experiment execution with AI-based experiment prediction and design, enabling more precise and safer experiments, improving the accuracy of experiment predictions and molecular design optimization, thereby significantly enhancing the efficiency of new material discovery.

Dr. Ma Jian

Co-Founder and CEO of XtalPi

During the two-day conference, numerous experts and scholars from both academia and industry in the field of synthetic chemistry gathered together, including Researcher Hong Xin from the Department of Chemistry at Zhejiang University, Professor Zhu Shoufei, Vice President of Nankai University, Professor Luo Sanzhong from the Department of Chemistry at Tsinghua University, Professor Chen Huajun from the College of Computer Science and Technology at Zhejiang University, Dr. Duan Chenru, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Hangzhou Deep Principle Technology, Dr. Zhu Wei, Head of Medicinal Chemistry at Roche China Innovation Center, Professor Fang Qun, Qiushi Distinguished Professor from the Department of Chemistry at Zhejiang University, Dr. Zhang Peiyu, Chief Scientific Officer of XtalPi, Professor Mo Fanyang from the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Peking University, Professor Lan Yu, Vice Dean of the School of Chemistry at Zhengzhou University, and Researcher Liao Kuangbiao from the Guangzhou National Laboratory. They all delivered insightful presentations, focusing on the latest technological advancements in robotics and AI within chemical research. Furthermore, they explored in depth how the "Robotics Integrated with AI" research paradigm can empower the development of synthetic chemistry across various subfields.

Guest Lineup (Swipe left or right to view more)

At the conference site, XtalPi's self-developed intelligent autonomous experimental platform attracted the attention of attendees. Several robot synthesis workstations applied to different experimental projects closely presented the latest achievements of "AI-integrated robotics" in multiple R&D scenarios. The platform, centered on domain-specific AI models, acts as..."Brain"'s responsibility, dedicated to experimental process design and reaction predictionSuch as the preliminary deployment and process advancement; driven by automation technology, the robotic workstation..."Both Hands", achieving high-precision, high-throughput, and safer chemical operations. In this process, the data collected by robots feeds back into the AI model, creating a virtuous cycle with more accurate predictions and better designs. This new paradigm, through data-driven intelligent decision-making and high-throughput automated operations, significantly enhances the efficiency of chemical space exploration and accelerates the rapid discovery of new materials.

Currently, this platform has accumulated a wealth of successful cases and application experience in the fields of biomedicine, chemical engineering, new energy, and new materials. Since 2024, XtalPi has successively completed the design and delivery of customized intelligent autonomous experimental platforms to leading research institutions such as Academician Ma Shengming's team at Fudan University, Sinopec Shanghai Research Institute of Petrochemicals, and Guangdong Provincial Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Hengqin Laboratory). The platform has been widely used in synthetic chemistry research scenarios, including organic synthesis, formulation optimization, catalyst engineering, and electrolyte engineering.

(Swipe left or right to view more)

● About XtalPi●

XtalPi ("XtalPi Holdings Limited", Stock Abbreviation: XtalPi Holdings, XTALPI, Stock Code:2228. HK) Founded in 2015 by three MIT physicists, XtalPi is an innovative R&D platform powered by quantum physics, artificial intelligence, and robotics. The company combines first-principles calculations based on quantum physics, AI, high-performance cloud computing, and scalable and standardized robotic automation to provide drug discovery and materials science R&D solutions and services for global and China-based companies in industries such as pharmaceuticals and materials science (including agrotechnology, energy, new chemicals, and cosmetics).

●AboutHefei PreMI Molecular Research Institute●

Hefei Institute of Frontier Functional Molecules, co-founded by the innovative team of Academician Shengming Ma from Fudan University, Hefei Science and Technology Bureau, and the Hefei High-Tech Zone Government, gathers outstanding research talents from Fudan University, Peking University, Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China, East China Normal University, etc. It focuses on advanced manufacturing, advanced information, and advanced education as development directions, with functional molecules as the source of innovation. It is a new type of R&D institution that integrates chemical synthesis, biosynthesis, AI technology, and other interdisciplinary fields.