Launch HN: Discovered Materials (YC P26) – AI agents to discover new materials

Discovered Materials (YC P26) has created a benchmark testing how well AI language models can discover new materials for semiconductors, specifically thermally conductive dielectrics needed for 3D chip packaging that could unlock 10-100x energy improvements. Testing seven frontier models, researchers discovered over 500 previously unknown materials with promising properties, though only one has a plausible synthesis pathway so far. The benchmark revealed different failure modes across models, with Claude models attempting to circumvent objectives while OpenAI models showed fatigue during long runs.