3M's AI Leap: Reshaping Material Science with Digital Creation Tools

ST. PAUL, Minn. – December 29, 2025 – Industrial giant 3M is set to fuse its century-old expertise in material science with the frontier of generative artificial intelligence, announcing a suite of digital tools poised to revolutionize product development. At the upcoming CES 2026, the company will debut 'Ask 3M,' an AI-powered assistant, and a significantly expanded '3M Digital Materials Hub,' designed to slash innovation cycles from months to minutes and empower engineers to create solutions with materials that do not yet physically exist.

These platforms represent a strategic pivot for the manufacturing stalwart, moving beyond the physical lab to offer digital-first solutions. By leveraging advanced simulation and AI, 3M aims to provide its customers in automotive, consumer electronics, and manufacturing with the ability to design, test, and validate materials in a virtual environment, dramatically reducing the time and cost associated with physical prototyping.

The Engineer's New AI Workbench

At the heart of 3M's digital transformation is a focus on the end-user: the engineer grappling with complex design challenges. The new 'Ask 3M' assistant is designed to function as an expert conversational partner. Instead of navigating dense catalogs and data sheets, an engineer can describe a specific bonding problem, outlining substrates, environmental conditions, assembly methods, and performance targets. The AI, powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS), then intelligently queries 3M's vast portfolio of tapes and adhesives to recommend optimal solutions.

"At 3M, we're combining decades of material science with AI so engineers can make better decisions, faster," said Holly Semerad, chief marketing officer for 3M's Safety & Industrial Business Group. "Together, Ask 3M and the 3M Digital Materials Hub allow customers of varying scope and scale to move from design challenge to solution concept then digital selection and simulation in minutes."

Complementing the AI assistant is the expanded '3M Digital Materials Hub.' This platform now includes a 'Workbench' feature for direct collaboration between customer engineers and 3M's own scientists, fostering a more integrated innovation process. A major upgrade is the inclusion of 'Optical Models,' which provide simulation-ready data for 3M's optical films. This allows designers, particularly in the automotive and electronics sectors, to virtually model how a material will perform—for instance, how a film will affect a car's heads-up display—long before a physical part is ever produced.

From Virtual Atoms to Real-World Solutions

The most forward-looking feature of the expanded platform is its ability to generate 'bespoke virtual materials.' This generative capability allows customers to define a problem for which no current material is a perfect fit. Leveraging 3M's deep institutional knowledge of chemistry and physics, the system can propose and simulate the properties of a novel material tailored to the customer's specific needs. These are not just theoretical constructs; they are virtual prototypes backed by 3M's confidence that they can be physically synthesized.

This process is underpinned by simulation-ready data cards and advanced modeling that allow for rigorous digital validation. The goal is to shift learning and discovery to the front of the design process, eliminating late-stage surprises that can derail projects and inflate budgets. For customers, this means a drastically accelerated path to market and the ability to explore more ambitious and innovative designs with greater confidence.

"With these platforms, 3M is redefining how engineers discover, evaluate, and simulate materials," stated Jason Langfield, 3M Digital Materials Hub project lead. "By drawing on 3M's deep technological and application expertise, we can deliver secure, scalable access to mechanical models, optical models and virtual materials, while helping our customers reduce iterations, accelerate decisions, and bring better solutions to market faster."

A Strategic Alliance in a Disruptive Market

3M's ambitious foray into generative AI is enabled by a strategic partnership with Amazon Web Services. The platforms utilize AWS's secure and scalable AI infrastructure, including Amazon Bedrock and AgentCore, to handle the immense computational load and ensure the security of sensitive customer design data. This collaboration allows 3M to focus on its core competency—material science—while leveraging a world-class cloud and AI backbone.

The move positions 3M at the forefront of a major industrial trend. While other chemical giants and materials informatics startups are exploring AI, 3M's integrated offering of a conversational assistant, a collaborative design hub, and a generative materials engine is a novel and aggressive strategy. It challenges the traditional, slower-paced R&D model and sets a new standard for customer engagement, effectively transforming 3M from a product supplier into a digital solutions partner.

This digital strategy could also unlock new revenue streams, potentially through tiered subscription access, premium consulting services via the 'Workbench,' or contracts for the development of the bespoke materials conceived in the hub. It is a clear investment in future-proofing the business by embedding its products within the digital workflows of its most important customers.

The Road Ahead: Impact, Ethics, and Validation

According to 3M, initial feedback from pilot customers has been overwhelmingly positive, with engineers reporting that the tools seamlessly integrate into their virtual simulation environments, accelerating prototyping and design. While specific quantitative data on cost and time savings has not yet been released, the qualitative benefits point to a significant reduction in design iterations and faster, more informed decision-making.

However, the advent of AI-generated materials raises new and complex questions. Issues surrounding the intellectual property of a material co-designed by a customer and an AI, the transparency of the AI's decision-making process, and ensuring data security for proprietary customer designs will be critical areas to address. As these tools are more widely adopted, establishing clear ethical guidelines and legal frameworks will be paramount for building long-term trust.

The industry will be watching closely as 3M showcases these innovations at its CES 2026 exhibition in Las Vegas. The launch marks a pivotal moment, and the subsequent release of customer case studies and independent analysis will be crucial in validating the transformative potential of applying generative AI to the fundamental building blocks of the physical world.