Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) has been recognized with the World Economic Forum’s 2026 MINDS Award for its “Augmented Intelligence Leading Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Battery Design” initiative. Presented on January 19, 2026, at the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos, this award highlights CATL’s use of artificial intelligence to transform traditional battery research and development.
The project replaces manual trial-and-error methods with an AI-driven co-design process that generates virtual battery prototypes exhibiting enhanced performance, reliability, and efficiency. By combining physics-based electrochemical modeling with machine learning, CATL’s Intelligent Cell Design platform predicts cell behavior before production, significantly reducing evaluation cycles and prototyping costs. Running on a private cloud, the system draws on more than 50 million historical data records and leverages physics-informed machine learning and agentic AI to function as a “digital engineer,” automatically generating and refining design options.
Trained on over 100,000 battery design cases, 600 terabytes of test data, and real-world electric vehicle performance records, the platform dynamically adjusts to customized performance requirements with prediction accuracy of up to 95 percent. It produces design recommendations in seconds and detailed virtual cell configurations in minutes, delivering higher energy density, improved safety margins, and greater consistency compared to conventional approaches.
The MINDS program, managed by the World Economic Forum’s Centre for AI Excellence, evaluates applicants across strategy, talent, data, technology, and governance to identify high-impact, deployable AI solutions. This year, only 15 organizations worldwide earned the award for demonstrating responsible, large-scale AI implementations.
Ni Jun, Chief Manufacturing Officer and Co-President of Engineering Manufacturing System at CATL, noted that “augmented intelligence”—the integration of AI systems with human expertise—ensures robust product quality in complex industrial processes. He added that combining engineers’ deep understanding of materials and systems with advanced AI tools strengthens human-machine collaboration.
Looking ahead, CATL plans to expand its AI capabilities from enabling specific workflows to creating entirely new design frontiers, supporting the broader transition to sustainable energy and electrified transportation.
Source: CATL Press Release
