L'Oréal and IBM Are Betting AI Can Make Beauty More Effective & Sustainable

The AI model will allow L'Oreal to 'reach extra performance and consumer satisfaction in every cosmetic category and every region of the world,' according to the companies.
The AI model will allow L'Oreal to "reach extra performance and consumer satisfaction in every cosmetic category and every region of the world," according to the companies.
Harsha

L'Oréal and IBM are teaming up to use the beauty giant's formula and product data to "create a tailored AI model" to speed up and scale its innovation and reformulation pipeline, thereby boosting "inclusivity, sustainability, and personalization", according to Stéphane Ortiz, head of innovation métiers and product development, L'Oréal research and innovation.

The project will tap into IBM's generative artificial intelligence technology "to uncover new insights in cosmetic formulation data," which can reportedly support sustainable ingredient use and reductions in energy and material waste. 

The AI model will also allow the company to "reach extra performance and consumer satisfaction in every cosmetic category and every region of the world," according to the companies.

L'Oréal expects the AI platform will help it transition the majority of its product formulas to circularity and/or bio-based status in the next five years.

The system, when complete, will allow L'Oréal's 4,000 researchers to speed up:

  • new product formulation
  • formulation discovery processes
  • reformulations
  • production scale-up

The model itself will be trained on "a broad set of unlabeled data, capable of performing various tasks and applying information from one situation to another." 

"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," says Matthieu Cassier, chief transformation and digital officer, L'Oréal research and innovation.

"This collaboration is a truly impactful application of generative AI, leveraging the power of technology and expertise for the good of the planet," says Alessandro Curioni, IBM fellow, vice president Europe and Africa and director IBM research Zurich. "At IBM, we believe in the power of purpose-built, customized AI to help transform businesses. Using IBM's latest AI technology, L'Oréal will be able to derive meaningful insights from their rich formula and product data to create a tailored AI model to help achieve their operational goals and continue creating high quality and sustainable products."

"This alliance between highly specialized expertise in artificial intelligence and cosmetics seeks to revolutionize cosmetic formulation," says Guilhaume Leroy-Méline, IBM distinguished engineer, business transformation services CTO, IBM consulting France. "It embodies the spirit of AI-augmented research, emphasizing sustainability and diversity." 

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