SES.AI's AI-Driven Battery Innovation Highlights U.S. Drone Supply Chain Challenges

In a Massachusetts facility, SES.AI is tackling one of the most pressing challenges for the U.S. drone industry: developing a secure and scalable battery supply chain. The company’s work highlights the broader issue of rebuilding the industrial base needed to support domestic drone production, which goes far beyond assembling aircraft.

## The Battery Ecosystem Behind Drones

While U.S. drone policy increasingly emphasizes secure supply chains and reduced reliance on Chinese components, the reality is more complex. Replacing foreign-made drones with U.S.-made aircraft is only part of the solution. Every drone relies on an ecosystem of batteries, motors, electronics, and sensors, and rebuilding that ecosystem is a significant challenge.

SES.AI’s founder and CEO, Dr. Qichao Hu, explains that the U.S. lost much of its battery industry expertise decades ago, with manufacturing moving first to Japan, then to South Korea, and finally to China. Today, U.S. drone manufacturers are turning to allies like South Korea, where SES.AI operates a manufacturing facility in Chungju, supported by a network of talent and suppliers. Building a factory is one thing; recreating an entire ecosystem of experienced workers, materials suppliers, and specialized knowledge is far more difficult.

## From EVs to Drones: A Shift in Focus

SES.AI initially focused on drones and aviation applications in 2018 and 2019, attracted by the need for high energy density and lightweight batteries. However, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted investment toward electric vehicles (EVs), where battery performance was critical for range. This detour into automotive manufacturing proved valuable, as it subjected SES.AI to rigorous manufacturing requirements-over 3,000 quality checkpoints for automotive cells compared to about 400 for drone applications.

Now, drones are once again a key focus for SES.AI as the market grows. The company’s experience in automotive manufacturing has equipped it with the processes needed to meet the demands of the aviation industry. Additionally, SES.AI has been working with GM Defense, which helped develop its manufacturing capacity in South Korea.

## Policy Drives Urgency

The changing U.S. policy environment has accelerated the need for secure sourcing. Many drone manufacturers delayed major sourcing changes while federal policy was uncertain, stockpiling Chinese-made cells in 2024 and 2025. However, as federal requirements around Chinese drones and critical components have become clearer, the urgency to find alternatives has grown.

For the U.S. drone industry, restrictions on Chinese products create demand for alternatives, but policy alone cannot create the necessary manufacturing capacity. Companies must still develop compliant components and produce them at scale.

## The Importance of Batteries for Drones

For drones, battery performance is critical. Unlike electric vehicles, where better batteries mean greater driving range, drones face a more unforgiving weight equation. Every gram devoted to the battery reduces the payload capacity for cameras, communications systems, or medical shipments.

Hu describes the potential impact of SES.AI’s higher energy density batteries: an aircraft of the same weight could fly twice as far or carry double the payload. This performance improvement is driven by the company’s AI-driven materials discovery, which has explored a vast universe of molecules to find the best candidates for battery development.

## AI Accelerates Material Discovery

Traditional battery development has been slow, with the industry historically exploring only around 1,000 molecules. SES.AI’s AI-driven approach has mapped approximately 100 million molecules, narrowing the search for materials suited to specific applications. This process, which would have taken thousands of years through conventional research, now takes about a year.

The goal is not just to accumulate data but to accelerate material discovery. SES.AI’s system can evaluate possibilities, learn from results, and recommend promising candidates, reducing the time from years to weeks. This capability is crucial for responding quickly to customer needs and application requirements.

## Scaling Up Production

Finding better materials is only part of the solution. Manufacturing them at scale is the next challenge. SES.AI currently has capacity in South Korea to produce about one million cells annually, but this is far from sufficient to meet potential demand. The company plans to expand its Chungju capacity to approximately one million Li-Metal and Li-ion pouch cells annually to serve U.S. and European drone customers.

However, the potential demand is nearly 100 times greater, prompting SES.AI to explore additional capacity in Japan and Malaysia. This gap between available production and potential demand underscores the larger challenge facing the U.S. drone industry: the need for batteries and other critical components in quantities that current secure supply chains may not yet be able to provide.

While new aircraft and factories will be the most visible signs of America’s drone expansion, the harder work lies in building the underlying industrial base. Companies like SES.AI are at the forefront of this effort, leveraging AI and advanced manufacturing to meet the growing demands of the drone market.