Unilever has partnered with Arzeda to develop a groundbreaking cleaning product using AI technology. The collaboration aimed to create stain-fighting enzymes for cleaning and laundry products that would enhance cleaning performance while reducing the number of ingredients by almost 50%. Surprisingly, the development process took only 18 months, five times faster than expected. Arzeda’s Intelligent Protein Design Technology, combining artificial design and physics-based design, played a pivotal role in developing new enzymes and proteins that require less water and energy, effectively remove stains, and replace petrochemical-derived ingredients. The partnership aligns with Unilever’s Clean Future strategy, which is focused on sustainability, and aims to achieve net-zero emissions across all products by 2039. Unilever had previously incorporated AI technology in its Materials Innovation Factory and utilised it in product development, such as creating the Hourglass Confession Red Zero lipstick, saving millions of physical experiments.

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