UK company does the impossible to create magnets with no rare earths
China is increasingly sanctioning the export of rare earth metals which are used in everything from computer chips to batteries, so now there's a race to replace them.
Key takeaways
- For these reasons, as well their overall pricey-ness and scarcity, automakers like Tesla are actively searching for alternative materials to power their growing fleet of EVs.
- A UK tech company called Materials Nexus recently announced, with the help of its AI platform, they’d developed a magnet that’s completely free of rare earth metals.
- According to Materials Nexus’ press release, the company’s AI platform only took an amazing three months to design its rare earth metal-free creation, MagNex.
Cite or link to this article
Griffin, M. (2024) 'UK company does the impossible to create magnets with no rare earths', 311 Institute, 19 November. Available at: https://www.311institute.com/uk-company-does-the-impossible-to-create-magnets-with-no-rare-earths/ (Accessed: 1 October 2026).
Simply put, humans don’t have enough time to research alternative materials for our green energy future. But luckily, Artificial Intelligence (AI) ‘lives’ life in the fast lane.
A UK tech company called Materials Nexus recently announced, with the help of its AI platform, they’d developed a magnet that’s completely free of rare earth metals. While this isn’t the first such device, other companies have also created “Clean Earth” magnets, they did so after a about decade of trial-and-error. According to Materials Nexus’ press release, the company’s AI platform only took an amazing three months to design its rare earth metal-free creation, MagNex.
“The current industry standard permanent magnet took decades to discover and even longer to develop into the products we use today; MagNex took just 3 months to design, synthesize and test, x200 faster,” the press statement reads. “MagNex can be produced at 20 percent of the material cost and a 70 percent reduction in material carbon emissions (kg CO2/kg), compared to rare earth element magnets currently on the market.”
Materials Nexus worked with the Henry Royce Institute and the University of Sheffield to synthesize and test the magnet. The company said that a similar AI design approach could also revolutionize other facets of the green energy transition, including the design of semiconductors and superconductors. This seems more than possible, as only days before the reveal of MagNex, scientists from the UK and Japan successfully created an iron-based superconducting magnet using AI.
While the arrival of capable AI brings with it much deserved scepticism, as well as job security-induced anxiety, AI is particularly suited to be revolutionary in the field of materials science. According to the Materials Project, an open-source database meant to help support research into new materials, humans discovered 20,000 materials through experimentation, a number that was upped to 48,000 thanks to the dawn of computing.
In late 2023, researchers at the Google-owned Deepmind reported in the journal Nature that its Graph Networks for Materials Exploration (GNoME) used those 48,000 materials to then dream up an additional 2.2 million materials - 380,000 of which are considered stable and excellent candidates for synthesis.
Completely transitioning the entire world from fossil fuels to electricity as soon as humanly possible isn’t good enough, luckily, we have an AI ace up our sleeve.
What this means for your organisation
Supply risk now has a design answer.
Rare earth metals sit inside chips and batteries, and China is limiting exports. A magnet that needs none removes one exposed link. Treat it as a hedge to plan around, not a finished fix.
Speed changes the research game.
The company says its design platform took 3 months where the industry standard took decades, about x200 faster. Firms that rely on slow trial and error in materials will fall behind. The same method may reach semiconductors and superconductors.
Claims need testing before you commit.
The company reports 20 percent of the material cost and a 70 percent cut in material carbon emissions. These are its own figures. Rare-earth-free magnets are still at an early stage, so match your plans to each route's maturity and keep several options open.
Three questions for your next leadership meeting
- Which of our products depend on rare earth magnets or chips?
- What would a China export restriction do to our output?
- Who could test rare earth free magnets for us in the next year?
The trends and technologies behind this story
From the 311 Starburst, the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit’s map of the technologies and trends shaping the next 50 years.
Analysis by the 311 Strategic Intelligence Unit, from Matthew Griffin’s article and 311 data. First published on Fanatical Futurist.
FAQ
Why does this matter?
China is increasingly sanctioning the export of rare earth metals which are used in everything from computer chips to batteries, so now there's a race to replace them.
About the author
Matthew Griffin Founder, President and Futurist, 311 Institute
Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath."
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Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 17-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder, President and Futurist of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.
An award-winning YouTube creator with over a million followers, with an unrivalled global reach and impact, Matthew is a highly sought-after international keynote speaker, lecturer, and mentor who collaborates with global leaders through the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) and United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to shape pivotal initiatives such as the UN’s AI for Humanity program, the United Nations Conference of the Parties (UN COP), and the World Economic Forum in Davos.
As the former Global Head of Cloud, National Security, and Enterprise Sales for companies including Atos, Dell-EMC, and IBM, Matthew has a proven track record of building multi-billion dollar business units and turning failing divisions into market leaders. His ability to identify, analyse, and communicate the implications of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends is unparalleled, and his insights are trusted by many of the world’s most respected organisations, including ABB, Accenture, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi, Coca-Cola, Dentons, Deloitte, Dow Jones, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, Siemens AG and Siemens Energy, T-Mobile, UBS, VISA, Walmart, Workday, Worldpay and many others.
Regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, Matthews mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.
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Sources and further reading
- Magnex rare earth free permanent magnet materialsnexus.com
- scientists from the UK and Japan kcl.ac.uk
- Materials Project next-gen.materialsproject.org
- Google ai discovers 2 2 million new materials freethink.com
Source: first published by the 311 Institute on 19 November 2024. Cite as: Griffin, M. (2024). UK company does the impossible to create magnets with no rare earths. 311 Institute. https://www.311institute.com/uk-company-does-the-impossible-to-create-magnets-with-no-rare-earths/
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