United Kingdom, July 20 -- British artificial intelligence startup CuspAI has raised $450 million (£330 million) in a new funding round backed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the UK government, as it looks to transform the way new materials are discovered for industries including semiconductors, energy and advanced manufacturing.

The Cambridge-based company, founded just two years ago, has been valued at $2.6 billion following the Series B investment.

The funding will support international expansion and further development of its AI-powered platform, which aims to dramatically reduce the time needed to identify and develop new materials.

CuspAI describes its technology as a "search engine for rare materials", using frontier AI mo...