Buyer Chains · CASE STUDY 002 · External test stage
Radical AI × U.S. Air Force (AFWERX) × Purdue: a $1.2M contract and one torch test
The question · Between an Air Force contract and a Purdue torch test, who says the alloy is good enough?
At a glance · A $1,197,902 AFWERX contract; one public acceptance number, a 0.25% mass gain for RAI-939 against a 32% loss for C103 after a minute above 2,500 C.
One of the Buyer Chains series. Each piece follows one chain, the AI company, its customer and sometimes the customer's customer, through five roles in the public record: who states the need, who sets the research direction, who runs the experiments, who validates the result, who decides to keep paying. It records only what the public record states and says who said each thing; a missing step is marked not yet public rather than filled in, and a company's own figure is written as the company's. The timeline at the end stays open: when the chain's next step reaches the public record, it goes on as a new line.
Radical AI runs a self-driving lab in New York for alloys and electronic materials. On 25 August 2025 it announced an AFWERX Direct-to-Phase II contract of $1,197,902 for "the accelerated discovery of novel high entropy alloys with enhanced thermomechanical properties"; its release states the need plainly: traditional alloys cannot endure hypersonic flight.[1] A year later, on 7 August 2026, it announced that Purdue Applied Research Institute had torch-tested its alloy RAI-939 side by side with C103, the niobium alloy in use since Apollo: one minute in a flame that simulates flight environments and heats past 2,500 C, a 0.25% mass gain for RAI-939 against a 32% mass loss for C103, which the company calls "125x" better environmental survivability.[2] The contract is the Air Force's and the test is Purdue's; whether the Air Force accepts the test, or moves to a next phase, is not yet public.
Who states the need · The U.S. Air Force. AFWERX runs the Open Topic SBIR started in 2018: companies propose the topic and the Air Force selects. The need in Radical's release is the Air Force's (hypersonic flight needs new alloys); the specific project is Radical's proposal.[1]
Who sets the direction · Radical AI. High-entropy alloys as the route, and AI prediction plus high-throughput screening plus a robotic lab as the method, are the company's; AFWERX endorsed the route by selecting it.[1]
Who runs the experiments · Radical's own lab. The company says AI-generated hypotheses and the autonomous lab made over 300 novel materials in 16 weeks, in an alloy space where only 3,493 unique alloys had been studied experimentally in 20-plus years.[2]
Who validates · Purdue ARI's Hypersonics Laboratory. Radical "partnered with Purdue to verify"; who paid, how many samples, and the full test conditions are not in the post. No Purdue report was found; the only Purdue voice is its lab director Greg Scofield, quoted in Radical's post.[2]
Who decides to keep paying · Two parties so far: AFWERX, through this one Phase II contract (decided August 2025), and Radical's investors ($55M seed, July 2025).[1][3] A Phase III or a procurement decision is not yet public. The December 2025 memorandum with the Department of Energy is a framework with no funding attached[4]; Sandia's September 2026 use of the lab for hydrogen membranes is a separate chain, unrelated to hypersonics[5].
What the buyer looks at, concretely
- The one public metric: mass change after one minute above 2,500 C, against the incumbent C103. 0.25% gain versus 32% loss, as the company reports it.[2]
- Radical's own stated next step is exactly what an aerospace buyer wants: bigger test articles, processing representative of real manufacturing, quality-control data, "a spec sheet".[2]
- After that, the path a new alloy takes into aerospace design is on the public record from other alloys: an SAE AMS material specification (C103 has its own: AMS 7852 for sheet, AMS 7857 for bar) and design allowables in the MMPDS handbook. RAI-939 has neither, and nobody has said either is under way.
Not yet public · The Air Force's view of the Purdue test; the Phase II deliverables and term; how many samples were tested; Purdue's own report; any second buyer.
Decision point · The next decision is the Air Force's: whether Purdue's test counts, and whether to move to a Phase III or a procurement. The contract was decided in August 2025; this decision is not yet public.
The chain's timeline
- 2025-07Radical AI closes a $55M seed (company post)[3]
- 2025-08AFWERX Direct-to-Phase II, $1,197,902, high-entropy alloys (company post)[1]
- 2026-08Purdue ARI torch test: RAI-939 against C103, one minute, one sample (company post; no Purdue report read)[2]
- NextBigger test pieces, manufacturing-representative processing, QC data, a spec sheet (the company's own list)
- LaterAir Force acceptance, Phase III or procurement; an AMS spec and MMPDS allowables. Not yet public.
Sources
- Radical AI, "Radical AI Awarded U.S. Air Force Contract", 2025-08-25. radical-ai.com ↗ (read in full)
- Radical AI, "Confirming Superior Performance of Materials Discovered in Radical AI Self-Driving Labs", 2026-08-07. radical-ai.com ↗ (read in full; no Purdue report found)
- Radical AI, "Radical AI announces $55M in new funding", 2025-07-18. radical-ai.com ↗ (read in full)
- Radical AI, "Radical AI Signs Memorandum of Understanding with the U.S. Department of Energy", 2025-12-20. radical-ai.com ↗ (read in full)
- Timeline entry radical-ai-sandia-hydrogen-membranes, 2026-09-29.