IBM and global beauty company L'Oréal Group (hereinafter referred to as 'L'Oréal') announced on the 16th that they will collaborate to build a cosmetics formulation model using IBM's generative artificial intelligence.

This collaboration is expected to be the industry's first formulation foundation model created through AI innovation at the intersection of beauty, chemistry, and technology by building a customized AI foundation model.

This collaboration combines L’Oréal’s expertise in cosmetic science with IBM’s cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology to identify renewable and sustainably sourced raw materials during the consumer product development phase to conserve natural resources.

L'Oréal said it will contribute to achieving its goal of sourcing most of its products from bio-based or circular economy-based raw materials by 2030.

Using AI models to leverage vast amounts of formulation and ingredient data, L'Oréal will accelerate a number of its operations, including formulating new products, reformulating existing cosmetics, and optimizing production for scale-up, while supporting the research activities of L'Oréal's 4,000 researchers worldwide over the next few years.

Additionally, IBM Consulting helped L’Oréal rethink and re-engineer its formulation discovery process.By understanding the characteristics of renewable ingredients in cosmetic formulations, L'Oréal expects to be able to build a more sustainable product range that enhances inclusion and personalization for consumers around the world.

“This partnership will expand the speed and scale of our innovation and reengineering pipeline as part of our digital transformation program, and deliver products that are more inclusive, sustainable and personalised,” said Head of Marketing, Stephan Ortiz.

“This collaboration is a truly impactful application of generative AI, leveraging technology and expertise to benefit the planet,” said Alessandro Curioni, vice president, IBM Europe and Africa. “L’Oréal will be able to use IBM’s latest AI technologies to derive insights from its formulation and product data to build tailored AI models that will help it sustainably produce high-quality, environmentally friendly products while meeting its operational goals.”