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SES AI (NYSE: SES): Hybrid Lithium-Metal Battery Technology & AI Software
The MIT spinout that started with solid polymer batteries, pivoted to hybrid lithium-metal, and is now betting its future partly on AI software instead of cells alone.
Who they are
SES AI traces back to Solid Energy Systems, an MIT spinout founded by Qichao Hu in 2012 around solid-polymer lithium-metal battery technology. It went public via SPAC merger in 2022 as "SES AI," and along the way has taken two notable turns: a 2022 shift from a fully solid electrolyte design to a hybrid lithium-metal chemistry (a lithium-metal anode paired with a small amount of liquid electrolyte, rather than a fully solid one), and, more recently, a rebrand around AI — both AI-driven battery materials discovery and, increasingly, standalone enterprise AI software.
What they do
SES AI's core battery product is a hybrid Li-Metal cell — its "Apollo" line includes what the company describes as the world's first large-format 100Ah Li-Metal cells. Because the chemistry retains a liquid-electrolyte component, it sits closer to the boundary of what this site's "all-solid-state" definition covers than the sulfide- or oxide-route pure solid electrolytes elsewhere in this chain; SES AI itself markets the technology as "Li-Metal," not strictly ASSB. In April 2024, SES AI, Hyundai Motor, and Kia agreed to build a dedicated B-sample cell development, assembly, and testing facility in Uiwang, South Korea — one of the largest Li-Metal production lines of its kind — following an earlier 2021 development agreement and a 2023 JDA with a separate automaker (later confirmed as Honda). Alongside the battery business, SES AI has built out "Molecular Universe," an AI platform originally developed for internal battery-materials R&D that the company is now also selling as standalone enterprise AI software.
How they make money
Like most of the cell-technology tier, SES AI is pre-commercial-scale on batteries — revenue comes from joint-development milestone payments and R&D collaboration funding with automaker partners (GM, Hyundai, Kia, Honda) rather than product sales. The newer wrinkle is its AI software business, which the company has started selling on a subscription basis to enterprise customers outside the battery industry — a genuinely unusual second revenue stream for a company in this chain, and one that reflects how thin the runway can get for pre-revenue battery developers waiting on a B-sample-to-C-sample transition that keeps slipping industry-wide.
Where it sits in the value chain
SES AI sits in Cell Technology & IP alongside QuantumScape and Solid Power — the tier that owns core battery chemistry and licenses or develops it with automaker partners rather than running its own gigafactory. It's the chain's clearest example of the "hybrid electrolyte" sub-category: not a pure solid electrolyte like its stage-mates, but still commonly discussed alongside next-generation solid-state technology given the shared lithium-metal anode approach and safety pitch.
The bigger trend
SES AI's pivot toward selling AI software is one of the more unusual stories in this entire chain — a battery-technology company deciding that the AI tools it built to accelerate its own materials research might be worth more, sooner, than the batteries themselves. It's a hedge that makes some sense given how slowly next-generation battery commercialization has moved industry-wide: SES AI became the first Li-Metal battery company with two separate B-sample JDAs running in parallel (Hyundai/Kia and a separate automaker), which is a real technical credibility signal, but B-sample is still several stages removed from a production-ready cell. Whether "AI battery company" ends up meaning "company that makes AI-designed batteries" or "company that makes AI software and also batteries" is genuinely an open question as of mid-2026.
What to watch
- Whether either the Hyundai/Kia or Honda B-sample program advances toward C-sample qualification, the stage that actually precedes production vehicle use.
- How much revenue the Molecular Universe AI software business generates relative to battery-related R&D funding — a signal of which side of the business is actually gaining traction.
- Whether SES AI's chemistry, as a hybrid rather than fully solid electrolyte, ends up competing directly with the sulfide- and oxide-route pure ASSB developers in this chain, or carves out a separate niche.
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FAQ
Is SES AI's battery a true all-solid-state battery?
Not quite. SES AI's Li-Metal cells use a hybrid design — a lithium-metal anode combined with a small amount of liquid electrolyte, rather than a fully solid electrolyte like the sulfide or oxide cells elsewhere in this chain. The company markets it as "Li-Metal" technology rather than strictly all-solid-state.
What automakers is SES AI working with?
General Motors, Hyundai Motor, Kia, and Honda. Its Hyundai/Kia partnership includes a dedicated B-sample cell development and testing facility in Uiwang, South Korea, and it became the first Li-Metal battery company to run two separate B-sample joint development agreements in parallel.
Why is a battery company also selling AI software?
SES AI built an internal AI platform, Molecular Universe, to accelerate its own battery-materials research. It has since begun offering that platform as standalone enterprise AI software to customers outside the battery industry, creating a second revenue stream alongside its battery-development partnerships.