What Atomic Manufacturing Means in the Age of AI
Atomic manufacturing is an emerging approach to industrial hardware production where AI models design and test materials and components at the level of individual atoms before anything is built in the real world, allowing much faster iteration, fewer physical prototypes and more precise control over performance, efficiency and cost across complex hardware systems. Orbital Industries has placed this idea at the centre of its business, raising €43 million (USD 50 million, approx. RM230 million) in Series B funding to scale its AI manufacturing technology. The round, led by Plural with participation from NVentures, Radical Ventures, Compound and Fly Ventures, will support expansion of its AI and engineering teams and the development of a broader industrial platform beyond data centres. Orbital’s pitch is that AI can collapse the traditional sequence of materials discovery, engineering and manufacturing into a single, continuous workflow.
Orb: Simulating 100,000 Atoms for Industrial Hardware Production
At the core of Orbital Industries’ atomic manufacturing strategy is Orb, an AI engine that simulates quantum mechanical behaviour of atoms at industrial scales. According to the company, it is the only model that can simulate 100,000 atoms on a single GPU, where every competitor crashes, while running ten times faster than the nearest alternative from major tech labs and universities. This capability turns week-long quantum simulations into what the team calls “coffee-break computations”, giving small, interdisciplinary teams the ability to test far more design variants in the time traditional tools handle one. Independent benchmarks cited by Orbital show that Orb’s predictions do not drift over time, which is crucial if engineers are going to rely on virtual test benches instead of long, expensive lab cycles. In practice, this AI manufacturing technology helps transform raw scientific insight into manufacturable hardware designs.
From Quantum Simulations to Data-Centre-Ready Cooling Systems
Orbital Industries is applying its atomic manufacturing capabilities first to data centre infrastructure, where rising AI compute demand is straining power and cooling. The company has designed a dielectric cooling fluid and refrigeration system tailored to next-generation GPUs, using Orb to explore candidate molecules and system configurations at the atomic level before committing to production. The fluid is free from PFAS “forever chemicals”, which positions it well for tightening regulatory standards in major markets. Traditionally, developing a new industrial cooling fluid could take around a decade; Orbital says its AI-led approach has dramatically shortened this timeline by cutting down trial-and-error chemistry and physical testing. In parallel, the company is using AI to design modular, high-density data centre units that can be manufactured off-site and deployed in as little as six months, compared with up to three years for conventional builds.
A Signal for Advanced Manufacturing Funding Beyond 3D Printing
Orbital Industries’ €43 million Series B reflects a wider shift in advanced manufacturing funding from discrete tools like 3D printing toward tightly integrated AI-and-hardware platforms. In the current landscape, capital is flowing into AI infrastructure across data-centre capacity, photonics, semiconductor tooling, industrial automation and AI-enabled materials science, with EU-Startups tracking roughly €1.08 billion in such rounds. While infrastructure giants dominate the totals, Orbital’s raise stands out for an industrial AI hardware company building from the atoms up. Investors see that AI progress is now constrained by energy, heat and physical infrastructure rather than algorithms alone. As Ian Hogarth of Plural notes, the ability to discover and deploy physical technologies faster than traditional industry will shape the next phase of AI. Atomic manufacturing, if it scales, could provide that acceleration by linking simulation, design and production under one AI-controlled roof.
The Future of Atomic Manufacturing Across Critical Industries
Although data centres are Orbital Industries’ first commercial focus, the company’s model points toward a broader shift in industrial hardware production. By combining atomic-scale simulation, automated design and modular manufacturing, Orbital aims to extend its platform into semiconductors, critical minerals, aerospace and energy. In each of these sectors, the ability to explore new materials and architectures in silico, then push straight to manufacturable hardware, promises faster cycles and better material efficiency than conventional pipelines. CEO Jonathan Godwin argues that frontier AI provides “PhD-level expertise across every discipline”, allowing small teams to move from materials discovery to commercial hardware in months rather than a decade. If this vision holds, atomic manufacturing could become a key layer in the physical economy, sitting alongside chips, energy systems and advanced materials as a foundation for the next wave of AI-enabled industrial innovation.