IBM and L’Oréal Team to Make Raw Material Sourcing Better for the Planet
IBM and L’Oréal have inked a deal for the cosmetics giant to use the tech company’s generative artificial intelligence solution. The aim is to “uncover new insights in cosmetic formulation data,” which will allow L’Oréal to facilitate its use of more sustainable raw materials as well as to reduce energy consumption and material waste generation.
Terms of the collaboration were not disclosed.
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The companies said in a joint statement that the partnership will result in a “custom AI foundation” that will increase the ability of the beauty company’s research and innovation team “to reach extra performance and consumer satisfaction in every cosmetic category and every region of the world,” the company said. It added that the formulation foundation model “is believed to be a first-of-its-kind in the industry, redefining AI innovation at the intersection of beauty, chemistry and technology.”
IBM said foundation models are a type of AI model that is trained “on a broad set of unlabeled data, capable of performing various tasks and applying information from one situation to another.” The company said these models “have significantly advanced the field of natural language processing technology over the past several years, and IBM is pioneering applications of foundation models beyond language, in areas such as chemistry, time series and geospatial modalities.”
Seeking renewable and sustainably sourced raw materials for its consumer products has been a top priority for L’Oréal. The company said the collaboration with IBM will help meet its “L’Oréal for the Future’s target of sourcing most of its product formulas based on bio-sourced materials and/or the circular economy by 2030,” the company said.
Stéphane Ortiz, head of innovation métiers and product development at the L’Oréal Research & Innovation division, said, “As part of our Digital Transformation Program, this partnership will extend the speed and scale of our innovation and reformulation pipeline, with products always reaching higher standards of inclusivity, sustainability and personalization.”
“Building on years of unique beauty science expertise and of data structuring, this major alliance with IBM is opening a new exciting era for our innovation and development process,” said Matthieu Cassier, chief transformation and digital officer at L’Oréal Research & Innovation.
Alessandro Curioni, IBM fellow, vice president of Europe and Africa, and director of IBM Research Zurich, said the collaboration “harnesses generative AI to deliver impactful technological solutions for environmental well-being.” He emphasized IBM’s commitment to transformative, purpose-driven AI that will allow L’Oréal to extract actionable insights from extensive product data to support operational excellence and sustainable, high-quality production.
Guilhaume Leroy-Méline, IBM distinguished engineer and chief technology officer of business transformation services at IBM Consulting France, said the collaboration “combines specialized AI and cosmetics expertise to revolutionize cosmetic formulation, focusing on sustainability and diversity through AI-enhanced research.”
The AI model, drawing from a large pool of data on formulations and components, aims to enhance L’Oréal’s product development and optimization processes. This initiative aims to empower L’Oréal’s 4,000 global researchers and to facilitate the design of more sustainable, personalized, and inclusive cosmetic products. IBM Consulting will also assist L’Oréal in redefining its formulation discovery approach, particularly focusing on the integration of renewable ingredients.
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