<![CDATA[AI Goes Deep]]>Deep tech venturing meets applied AI, from the people building it. Host Xiao Zhong talks to researchers, founders and program leaders about what AI is actually changing in deep tech commercialization — and separates what's real from what's a press release. A podcast from FedTech.

]]>www.fedtech.ioRiverside.fm (https://riverside.com)Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:52:08 GMTWed, 26 Aug 2026 21:42:10 GMT60FedTech<p>Deep tech venturing meets applied AI, from the people building it. Host Xiao Zhong talks to researchers, founders and program leaders about what AI is actually changing in deep tech commercialization — and separates what's real from what's a press release. A podcast from FedTech.</p>episodicFedTechnicholas.polt@fedtech.iono<![CDATA[Self-Driving Labs and 15 Years of the Materials Genome Initiative]]>Dr. James Warren has directed the Materials Genome Initiative since 2012. Fifteen years after the US government set out to halve materials development time, he explains what landed, what didn't, and where the door is for founders.

We cover why materials science is really just cooking, when AI is worth reaching for, what a self-driving lab does that a supercomputer can't, and why a 7:1 return on investment still isn't enough to move a manufacturer that's already profitable.

Warren's argument, in one line: adoption isn't a question of if. "Whether we have to go through a full Gartner hype cycle on this, I don't know. What I do know is that this is inevitable."

Guest: Dr. James A. Warren — NIST physicist since 1992, Director of the Materials Genome Initiative, co-founder and director of the NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science.

Mentioned:

— Warren's paper, "Overcoming Roadblocks for Implementing AI/ML Methods for Materials Advancement" (Annual Review of Materials Research, 2026)

— NSF's programmable cloud labs: $400M, 20 teams, four years

— DOE's Genesis Mission

A podcast from FedTech.

]]>7d5cc7e1-98b7-4f9b-9ac8-1533eb113e74Wed, 26 Aug 2026 21:44:08 GMT<p>Dr. James Warren has directed the Materials Genome Initiative since 2012. Fifteen years after the US government set out to halve materials development time, he explains what landed, what didn't, and where the door is for founders.</p><p></p><p>We cover why materials science is really just cooking, when AI is worth reaching for, what a self-driving lab does that a supercomputer can't, and why a 7:1 return on investment still isn't enough to move a manufacturer that's already profitable.</p><p></p><p>Warren's argument, in one line: adoption isn't a question of if. "Whether we have to go through a full Gartner hype cycle on this, I don't know. What I do know is that this is inevitable."</p><p></p><p><b>Guest:</b> Dr. James A. Warren — NIST physicist since 1992, Director of the Materials Genome Initiative, co-founder and director of the NIST Center for Theoretical and Computational Materials Science.</p><p></p><p><b>Mentioned:</b></p><p>— Warren's paper, "Overcoming Roadblocks for Implementing AI/ML Methods for Materials Advancement" (Annual Review of Materials Research, 2026)</p><p>— NSF's programmable cloud labs: $400M, 20 teams, four years</p><p>— DOE's Genesis Mission</p><p></p><p>A podcast from FedTech.</p>no00:29:35Self-Driving Labs and 15 Years of the Materials Genome Initiativefull