L’Oréal partners with IBM to create sustainable cosmetic formulation with generative AI

L’Oréal and IBM have teamed up to leverage IBM’s generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology to advance sustainable cosmetic formulation. 

The partnership aims to transform how beauty products are created, enabling L’Oréal to use renewable raw materials and reduce energy and material waste through cutting-edge AI innovation.

At the heart of the collaboration is the development of a custom AI foundation model tailored specifically for cosmetic formulation. This model will empower L’Oréal Research & Innovation (R&I) teams to create high-performing products that meet consumer expectations while advancing sustainability goals.

The initiative will contribute to L’Oréal’s “L’Oréal for the Future” program, which targets using bio-sourced materials or circular economy-based formulations in most products by 2030.

“As part of our Digital Transformation Program, this partnership will extend the speed and scale of our innovation and reformulation pipeline, with products always reaching higher standards of inclusivity, sustainability, and personalization”, said Stéphane Ortiz, head of innovation métiers & product development at L’Oréal Research & Innovation.

With IBM’s expertise in foundation models, the AI system will analyze complex data sets to better understand the behavior of renewable ingredients in formulations, allowing L’Oréal’s 4,000 researchers worldwide to design more sustainable and personalized beauty products.

“This collaboration is a truly impactful application of generative AI, leveraging the power of technology and expertise for the good of the planet”, said 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.”