SES AI Corp (SES) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, all. I would like to welcome you all to the SES first-quarter 2024 business and financial results call. My name is Prika, and I will be your moderator for today's call. All lines are on mute for the presentation portion of the call with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end. (Operator Instructions).

大家早安。歡迎大家參加 SES 2024 年第一季業務和財務業績電話會議。我叫 Prika，我將擔任今天電話會議的主持人。在通話的演示部分，所有線路均處於靜音狀態，最後將提供問答機會。（操作員指令）。

Thank you. I would now like to pass the conference over to your host, Kyle Pilkington, Chief Legal Officer to begin. So, Kyle, please go ahead.

謝謝。現在，我想將會議交給主持人、首席法律官凱爾·皮爾金頓 (Kyle Pilkington) 開始。那麼，凱爾，請繼續。

Hello everyone, and welcome to our conference call covering our first-quarter 2024 results. Joining me today are Qichao Hu, Founder and Chief Executive Officer; and Jing Nealis, Chief Financial Officer. We issued our shareholder letter just after 4:00 PM yesterday, which provides a business update as well as our financial results. You'll find a press release with a link to our shareholder letter and today's conference call webcast in the Investor Relations section of our website at ses.ai. Before we get started, this is a reminder that the discussion today may contain forward-looking information or forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities legislation.

大家好，歡迎參加我們的電話會議，討論我們 2024 年第一季的業績。今天與我一起的還有創始人兼首席執行官胡啟超和首席財務官 Jing Nealis。我們在昨天下午 4:00 後發布了致股東的信函，其中提供了業務更新以及財務業績。您可以在我們網站 ses.ai 的「投資者關係」版塊找到一份新聞稿，其中包含我們致股東的信函和今天的電話會議網絡直播的連結。在開始之前，我們在此提醒您，今天的討論可能包含適用證券法所定義的前瞻性資訊或前瞻性聲明。

These statements are based on our predictions and expectations as of today. Such statements can involve certain risks, assumptions, and uncertainties which may cause our actual or future results and performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied in these statements. The risks and uncertainties that could cause our results to differ materially from our current expectations include but are not limited to those detailed in our latest earnings release and in our SEC filings. This morning, we will review our business as well as the results for the quarter.

這些聲明是基於我們今天的預測和預期。此類聲明可能涉及某些風險、假設和不確定性，可能導致我們的實際或未來結果和表現與這些聲明中表達或暗示的結果和表現有重大差異。可能導致我們的結果與目前預期有重大差異的風險和不確定因素包括但不限於我們最新的收益報告和美國證券交易委員會文件中詳細說明的風險和不確定因素。今天上午，我們將回顧我們的業務以及本季的業績。

With that, I'll pass it over to Qichao.

這樣，我就把這個任務交給啟超了。

Good morning and thank you for joining us on our call. Our mission is to power a new era of electric transportation on land and in the air with lithium-metal batteries. That new era became a lot more visible in the past few weeks as we reached two significant milestones that we believe no other lithium-metal battery manufacturer has ever reached before. We're excited to talk about these achievements in more detail today as we believe the milestones reinforce our lead in the race to commercialize our lithium-metal technology for both EV and UAM applications.

早安，感謝您參加我們的電話會議。我們的使命是利用鋰金屬電池為陸地和空中電動交通的新時代提供動力。在過去幾週，我們達到了兩個重要的里程碑，這個新時代變得更加明顯，我們相信這是其他鋰金屬電池製造商從未達到的。我們很高興今天能夠更詳細地談論這些成就，因為我們相信這些里程碑鞏固了我們在將鋰金屬技術商業化用於電動車和城市空中交通應用的競爭中的領先地位。

I want our time this morning to center on how we got to this point and what it means for SES AI going forward. We have talked about four pillars in the business that support our vision, and we have made significant advancements in each one this year. Let's talk about our core focus first, EV. We have an extremely differentiated, high-density battery technology platform that has been validated by JDA partners such as Hyundai, Honda, and GM. Our announcement last week that the JDA partnership with Hyundai is entering the next phase further validates our technology and capability to scale manufacturing to rapidly meet increased demand.

我希望我們今天早上的時間主要集中在我們如何達到這一點以及這對 SES AI 未來發展意味著什麼。我們討論了支撐我們願景的四大業務支柱，今年我們在每個支柱上都取得了重大進展。我們先來談談我們的核心關注點，EV。我們擁有極具差異化、高密度的電池技術平台，並已獲得現代、本田、通用等JDA合作夥伴的驗證。我們上週宣布 JDA 與現代的合作即將進入下一階段，這進一步驗證了我們的技術和擴大生產規模的能力，以快速滿足日益增長的需求。

This agreement represents two global firsts for SES AI and our industry. It is the first time a lithium-metal battery manufacturer is building a line within an automotive OEM's facility, and it makes us the only lithium-metal battery company to have two B-sample development JDAs underway. In the past few months, we have all seen coverage about how OEMs in the US are scaling back their EV ambitions.

該協議代表了 SES AI 和我們行業的兩項全球首創。這是鋰金屬電池製造商首次在汽車 OEM 工廠內建造生產線，這也使我們成為唯一一家擁有兩個 B 樣品開發 JDA 的鋰金屬電池公司。在過去的幾個月裡，我們都看到了有關美國原始設備製造商如何縮減其電動車目標的報告。

However, Hyundai, already the second-largest EV manufacturer in the United States, is focusing on becoming a Top 3 global EV maker by 2030. They recently announced a $50 billion-plus investment to increase their EV line-up to 31 models and additional personnel for research and development of new EVs and batteries. Honda announced last week that they are making a $15 billion investment in EV plants in Canada, reinforcing their commitment to very ambitious goals over the next decade.

然而，現代汽車已經是美國第二大電動車製造商，並致力於在 2030 年成為全球三大電動車製造商之一。他們最近宣布投資 500 多億美元，將其電動車產品線擴大到 31 種型號，並增加人員用於新型電動車和電池的研發。本田上周宣布，將在加拿大投資 150 億美元建造電動車工廠，以進一步堅定其未來十年宏偉目標的承諾。

I can't emphasize enough the significance of moving into the next phase of our joint development contract with Hyundai and the confidence Hyundai has placed in SES AI's technology and capabilities. While Hyundai will fund the development of the dedicated B-sample facility in their Electrification Research Center in Uiwang, South Korea, SES AI will be investing in building and operating one of the largest capacity lithium-metal lines in the world within this new facility.

我再怎麼強調與現代汽車聯合開發合約進入下一階段的重要性以及現代汽車對 SES AI 的技術和能力的信心都不為過。現代汽車將資助其位於韓國義王市電氣化研究中心的專用 B 樣品設施的開發，而 SES AI 將投資在該新設施內建設和運營世界上容量最大的鋰金屬生產線之一。

We expect this line to be ready early in the fourth quarter of this year with our Avatar AI infrastructure ready several months thereafter. The increased production allows for more training of our Avatar AI in addition to more testing. The testing we will be conducting will be on the performance life cycle. We will test the cells to the extreme to understand where they fail. This process is similar to what we are doing under our other B-sample agreement.

我們預計這條生產線將在今年第四季初準備就緒，而我們的 Avatar AI 基礎設施也將在幾個月後準備就緒。除了更多的測試之外，產量的增加也使我們能夠對 Avatar AI 進行更多的訓練。我們將進行的測試將針對效能生命週期。我們將對電池進行極端測試，以了解它們失效的原因。該過程與我們在其他 B 樣本協議下所做的過程類似。

Operating this B-sample line in Hyundai's Uiwang facility will be good practice for what we plan to do with C-samples and beyond, especially with the joint ventures we've mentioned in the past that we believe can help us support the large scale needed for start of production.

在現代義王工廠運營這條 B 樣品生產線將對我們計劃對 C 樣品及其他產品進行的操作進行良好的實踐，特別是與我們過去提到的合資企業合作，我們相信這些合資企業可以幫助我們支持開始生產所需的大規模生產。

Second, UAM. While EV is the core focus, we are very committed to Urban Air Mobility, or UAM, as an exciting application for our lithium-metal batteries. It's the second pillar to our mission. UAM is an adjacent growth opportunity that requires little additional development beyond what we are already doing for EVs, and we believe it is a perfect fit for lithium-metal.

第二，城市空中交通（UAM）。雖然電動車是核心重點，但我們非常致力於城市空中交通（UAM），這是我們鋰金屬電池的一個令人興奮的應用。這是我們使命的第二個支柱。UAM 是一個相鄰的成長機會，除了我們已經為電動車所做的開發之外，幾乎不需要額外的開發，我們相信它非常適合鋰金屬。

When I say a little additional development, I mean that the B-sample cells we have delivered for EV are nearly equivalent to commercial production for UAM. With two B-sample agreements going, we can apply those learnings to UAM. UAM operates on a fleet model where revenue per passenger per mile is the primary metric, and weight is a primary concern. Lithium-metal's energy density means that aircraft can carry twice the number of passengers or double the amount of cargo or double the number of miles. This step-change greatly improves the UAM operators' profitability. As a first mover in the space, it also means we have an opportunity to make this market.

當我說有一點額外的開發時，我的意思是我們為 EV 交付的 B 樣品電池幾乎相當於為 UAM 提供的商業化生產。隨著兩個 B 樣本協議的實施，我們可以將這些經驗應用到 UAM。UAM 採用車隊模式運營，其中每位乘客每英里的收入是主要指標，重量是主要考慮因素。鋰金屬的能量密度意味著飛機可以運載兩倍數量的乘客、兩倍數量的貨物或兩倍數量的飛行里程。這一重大變化極大地提高了 UAM 運營商的盈利能力。作為該領域的先行者，這也意味著我們有機會開拓這個市場。

We're already seeing strong demand from OEMs and have a growing number of cell sampling and supply agreements with the top five OEMs. I would also note that our partner, Hyundai has been very aggressive and has demonstrated commitment to UAM. We have already started work on converting our EV A-sample line in Korea to a UAM-dedicated line, which we expect to complete in September.

我們已經看到來自 OEM 的強勁需求，並與前五名 OEM 簽訂了越來越多的電池採樣和供應協議。我還要指出的是，我們的合作夥伴現代汽車一直非常積極，並表現出對 UAM 的承諾。我們已經開始將韓國的 EV A 樣品生產線轉換為 UAM 專用生產線，預計 9 月完成。

Third, AI, to ensure practical safety across all our product lines, especially as we prepare for C-Sample and commercial deployment, we have significantly expanded the use of Avatar AI to monitor battery health and predict incidents. Our lithium-metal large cell Avatar AI prediction accuracy increased from just 60% in 2022 to 92% last year. Our target is 95% accuracy by year end. Ultimately, we aim to achieve a near 100% safety guarantee for EV and UAM and pioneer the foundation for using AI for future road map electrolyte development. With Avatar AI, we are building more than just a battery company. We are laying out a superintelligent AI for electric transportation.

第三，人工智慧，為了確保我們所有產品線的實際安全，特別是在我們準備 C 樣品和商業部署時，我們大大擴展了 Avatar AI 的使用範圍，以監控電池健康狀況並預測事故發生。我們的鋰金屬大電池 Avatar AI 預測準確率從 2022 年的 60% 提高到去年的 92%。我們的目標是到年底達到 95% 的準確率。最終，我們的目標是實現電動車和城市空中交通 (UAM) 近乎 100% 的安全保障，並為未來路線圖電解質開發中使用人工智慧奠定基礎。透過 Avatar AI，我們所打造的不僅僅是一家電池公司。我們正在為電動交通規劃超級智慧 AI。

Our new electrolyte foundry is now fully operational, and we can test new ideas generated by both humans and AI much faster. We are curating several large molecular databases and systematically screening them using both classical physics simulation and machine learning. The goal is to map the relevant small molecular universe. We are very excited to collaborate with several leading research groups on both computing power and machine learning tools.

我們的新電解質鑄造廠現已全面投入運營，我們可以更快地測試人類和人工智慧產生的新想法。我們正在管理幾個大型分子資料庫，並使用經典物理模擬和機器學習對它們進行系統篩選。目標是繪製相關的小分子宇宙圖。我們非常高興能與多個領先的研究小組在運算能力和機器學習工具方面合作。

AI for science is the future of material discovery, and SES AI integrates the world's leading machine learning scientists, battery domain experts, and an advanced chemical synthesis and cell testing facility. This gives us an ability to innovate and improve our products for EV and UAM at a pace that we believe is unprecedented in the industry.

科學人工智慧是材料發現的未來，SES AI 整合了世界領先的機器學習科學家、電池領域專家以及先進的化學合成和電池測試設施。這使我們能夠以業內前所未有的速度創新和改進我們的電動車和城市空中交通產品。

Fourth, sustainability. Lastly, we are integrating sustainability into our operations and innovation to enable supply chain efficiencies to accelerate production timelines and reduce costs. We recently announced that we will fund a new research initiative at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, WPI, to develop state-of-the-art recycling technology for lithium-metal. To date, recycling for lithium-ion batteries exists at an early stage but recycling technology for lithium-metal batteries has not yet been developed. Recycling lithium-metal batteries can be critical in the reduction of the shortage of raw materials and environmental problems.

第四，可持續性。最後，我們將永續性融入我們的營運和創新中，以提高供應鏈效率，加快生產時間表並降低成本。我們最近宣布，我們將資助伍斯特理工學院 (WPI) 的一項新研究計劃，以開發最先進的鋰金屬回收技術。目前，鋰離子電池的回收利用尚處於早期階段，但鋰金屬電池的回收技術尚未開發。回收鋰金屬電池對於減少原材料短缺和環境問題至關重要。

Another initiative we are pursuing is working on dry electrodes that can reduce chemical solvent evaporation. We expect to announce a collaboration partner on this effort in the not-too-distant future. In a real-time example of integrating environmental efforts into our business, we recently announced SES Cares. This initiative partners with organizations that monitor forest fires and protect marine animals to power advanced drones with our lithium-metal A- and B-sample cells and collect field data to train Avatar AI. We will have more details on this initiative and our much broader sustainability strategy when we post our first sustainability report at the end of May.

我們正在進行的另一個計劃是研究可以減少化學溶劑蒸發的乾電極。我們期望在不久的將來宣布此項工作的合作夥伴。作為將環保工作融入我們業務的實際例子，我們最近宣布了 SES Cares。該計劃與監測森林火災和保護海洋動物的組織合作，使用我們的鋰金屬 A 和 B 樣品電池為先進的無人機提供動力，並收集現場數據來訓練 Avatar AI。當我們在五月底發布第一份永續發展報告時，我們將提供有關此舉措和更廣泛的永續發展策略的更多詳細資訊。

2024 Goals. We noted last quarter that 2024 will be a key year in the commercialization of lithium-metal batteries, and we're very pleased with the execution so far on our annual goals. We have become the world's first lithium-metal battery manufacturer to have two B-samples underway, and we expect to become the first to build a line within an OEM's facility. With Avatar AI, we expect to produce the highest number of cells this year with a higher number of associated quality checks than ever before. This increase in data will help to improve Avatar AI's accuracy. As we look to accelerate future electrolyte discoveries, we are also training and developing new AI models and testing new ideas generated by these models in our clectrolyte foundry.

2024 年目標。我們上個季度指出，2024 年將是鋰金屬電池商業化的關鍵一年，我們對迄今為止年度目標的執行情況非常滿意。我們已成為全球首家擁有兩台 B 樣品的鋰金屬電池製造商，並且我們有望成為首家在 OEM 工廠內建立生產線的製造商。借助 Avatar AI，我們預計今年將生產數量最多的細胞，並且相關品質檢查的數量將比以往更多。數據的增加將有助於提高 Avatar AI 的準確性。為了加速未來電解質的發現，我們也在電解質鑄造廠訓練和開發新的人工智慧模型，並測試這些模型產生的新想法。

I'll now turn over to Jing for a brief discussion of our financials.

現在我將請 Jing 簡要討論我們的財務狀況。

Thank you, Qichao. Good afternoon, everyone. Today, I will cover our first-quarter 2024 financial results and discuss our operating and capital budget for full-year 2024. In the first quarter, our GAAP operating expenses were $21.3 million, which included $4.8 million of stock-based compensation expense. Cash used in operations was $9 million as we received a $11 million payment from our OEM partners.

謝謝你，啟超。大家下午好。今天，我將介紹我們 2024 年第一季的財務業績，並討論我們 2024 年全年的營運和資本預算。第一季度，我們的 GAAP 營運費用為 2,130 萬美元，其中包括 480 萬美元的股票薪資費用。我們從 OEM 合作夥伴收到了 1,100 萬美元的付款，因此在營運中使用的現金為 900 萬美元。

Capital expenditures were $6.8 million. We ended the first quarter with $319 million in liquidity. Our strong balance sheet will support the company as we stay on track to achieve our commercialization milestones. For the full-year 2024, our financial guidance is unchanged. We continue to expect cash usage from operations to be in the range of $90 million to $100 million and capital expenditures in the range of $20 million to $30 million. We expect total cash usage for the year in the range of $110 million to $130 million.

資本支出為 680 萬美元。第一季結束時，我們的流動資金為 3.19 億美元。我們強勁的資產負債表將支持公司繼續實現商業化里程碑。對於 2024 年全年，我們的財務指導保持不變。我們繼續預期營運現金使用量將在 9,000 萬至 1 億美元之間，資本支出將在 2,000 萬至 3,000 萬美元之間。我們預計今年的現金總使用量將在 1.1 億美元至 1.3 億美元之間。

As we continue to achieve the milestones we laid out, deepen our longstanding partnership with our OEM partners, and accelerate the speed of future electrolyte discovery, we are very focused on capital efficiency. Our priorities for 2024 are to attract top talent to support the strategic goals Qichao laid out earlier, build production capacities to deliver li-metal cells to our EV and UAM partners, and advance the use of AI for battery performance prediction as well as electrolyte material discovery as we stay at the forefront of battery material science innovation.

隨著我們繼續實現我們設定的里程碑、深化與 OEM 合作夥伴的長期合作夥伴關係以及加快未來電解質發現的速度，我們非常注重資本效率。我們 2024 年的首要任務是吸引頂尖人才來支持啟超先前製定的戰略目標，建立生產能力，為我們的電動車和城市空中交通 (UAM) 合作夥伴提供鋰金屬電池，並推進人工智慧在電池性能預測和電解質材料發現方面的應用，使我們始終處於電池材料科學創新的前沿。

With that, I will hand the call back to the operator to open up for questions.

說完這些，我會將電話交回給接線生，以便回答問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) Jed Dorsheimer, William Blair.

謝謝。（操作員指示）傑德·多爾斯海默、威廉·布萊爾。

Hi, everyone. You have Mark Shooter on for Jed. Congrats again on the B-sample JDA with Hyundai. I wanted to see if there was any differences between the partnership that you see? Because with Hyundai, you're going to be in their facility that's different with the other OEM you're working with. So could you give us a little color on the compare and contrast those two relationships and any differences you might see between them?

大家好。馬克舒特 (Mark Shooter) 飾演傑德 (Jed)。再次恭喜您與現代汽車達成 B 樣品 JDA。我想看看您所看到的合作關係是否有差異？因為與現代汽車合作，您將進入他們的工廠，這與您正在合作的其他 OEM 工廠不同。那麼，您能否稍微比較一下這兩種關係，並對比一下它們之間的差異？

Yeah, Mark. So the two are similar in terms of production capacity and then also the final specs. And they're different in the following ways. One is the Hyundai wants it in their facility. So especially when it comes to installing Avatar AI, so you have to install that on their IT infrastructure. That does create some complexity compared to the other one where we do everything on our own infrastructure.

是的，馬克。因此，兩者在生產能力和最終規格方面相似。它們有以下不同之處。一是現代汽車希望將其建在其工廠內。因此，尤其是在安裝 Avatar AI 時，您必須將其安裝在他們的 IT 基礎架構上。與我們在自己的基礎設施上完成所有工作相比，這確實造成了一些複雜性。

So this is one issue we're still trying to sort out. And this Avatar AI basically has to deal with quality, with equipment, with all the data in every process, every step of the entire assembly. So this is probably the biggest difference that we have, this Avatar AI just on someone else's IT infrastructure. And then -- and also for this one, we do plan to build cells primarily for EV, but also Hyundai is interested in UAM, so we're also testing some higher power density versions of these lithium metal cells for UAM applications whereas the other one is all focused on EV applications.

所以這是我們仍在努力解決的問題。這個 Avatar AI 基本上必須處理品質、設備以及整個組裝過程中每個流程、每個步驟的所有資料。所以這可能是我們最大的不同，這個 Avatar AI 只是建立在別人的 IT 基礎架構上。然後——對於這個，我們確實計劃主要為電動車製造電池，但現代也對城市空中交通感興趣，所以我們也在為城市空中交通應用測試一些更高功率密度的鋰金屬電池，而另一個則專注於電動車應用。

Got it. Okay, thanks for the color. And maybe one for Jing. Now that we're in someone else's facility, right, do you believe that that helps any with the CapEx spending? I know Hyundai is going to be pitching in for a decent amount of that. So how does that affect the financials? And does this give you any more runway than you were previously expecting?

知道了。好的，謝謝你的顏色。也許還有一個給 Jing。現在我們在別人的工廠裡，對吧，您認為這對資本支出有幫助嗎？我知道現代汽車將會投入相當多的資金。那麼這對財務有何影響？這是否為你提供了比你之前預期更多的跑道？

Thanks, Mark. The CapEx and OpEx that we -- the guidance we have given out already taken that into consideration, so operating in Hyundai facility definitely helps as the facility cost and everything will be on their side, so it will not increase our total spending this year, and it's fully built into our model.

謝謝，馬克。我們給出的指導中的資本支出和運營支出已經考慮到了這一點，因此在現代工廠運營肯定會有所幫助，因為設施成本和一切都會對他們有利，所以它不會增加我們今年的總支出，而且它完全融入了我們的模型中。

(Operator Instructions) Shawn Severson, Water Tower Research.

（操作員指示） Shawn Severson，水塔研究。

Qichao, I was wondering if we could step back and take a bigger picture question here, and it's regarding the adoption curve of lithium-metal. So if we look at what's going on in the industry, talking about overall EV slowing, but hybrids are doing well, for example. What I'm trying to understand, as you start to commercialize in this, the adoption curve of lithium metal versus lithium-ion and the relevancy or how important actual large growth in unit sales, let's say, are in the EV market. So I guess, to summarize, are you really looking at an adoption curve that provides a great growth curve for you regardless of, let's say, a flattening out of the curve -- growth curve for EVs? Am I thinking about it at the right way?

齊超，我想知道我們是否可以退一步來討論一個更大的問題，即關於鋰金屬的採用曲線。因此，如果我們觀察一下產業現狀，就會發現整體電動車發展放緩，但混合動力車表現良好。我想了解的是，當你開始將其商業化時，鋰金屬與鋰離子的採用曲線以及相關性，或者說單位銷量的實際大幅增長在電動車市場中有多重要。所以我想，總結一下，您是否真的在尋找一條為您提供巨大成長曲線的採用曲線，而不管曲線是否變平——電動車的成長曲線？我這樣思考是否正確？

Yeah, I think if you look at EV today, it's probably flattening out a little bit for lithium-ion because lithium-ion has saturated a lot in some markets. For example, in China, it's almost 30%, and then in some countries, in Europe, it's also more than 20%. So lithium-ion has saturated a lot. But then for lithium metal, it's still a huge market and then it's growing really fast.

是的，我認為如果你看看今天的電動車，鋰離子電池的市場可能會趨於平穩，因為鋰離子電池在某些市場上已經飽和。例如在中國，這個比例接近30%，歐洲的一些國家，這個比例也超過了20%。因此鋰離子已經飽和了。但對於鋰金屬來說，它仍然是一個巨大的市場，而且成長非常快。

And then UAM, we actually think UAM will see adoption much sooner for lithium-metal technologies because of the light weight and also the enhanced safety with Avatar AI. So, no, we don't see any flattening or anything in terms of demand and adoption for new technologies.

然後是 UAM，我們實際上認為 UAM 將更快地採用鋰金屬技術，因為它重量輕，而且 Avatar AI 的安全性也得到了增強。因此，我們沒有看到對新技術的需求和採用方面出現任何趨於平緩的跡象。

Right. So even in that flattening unit EV market, you would still see a pretty good pathway, let's say through of course '24, but more importantly '25, '26, as I assume you would get on more platforms and more commercialization. You'd still be seeing a lot of unit growth because of lithium metal adoption, not necessarily the overall EV market?

正確的。因此，即使在電動車市場趨於平緩的情況下，你仍然會看到一條相當不錯的發展道路，比如說當然是透過 24 年，但更重要的是 25 年、26 年，因為我認為你會接觸到更多的平台和更多的商業化。由於鋰金屬的採用，您仍會看到大量的單位成長，而不一定會看到整個電動車市場的成長？

Yes, yes. I mean, the overall EV market in some countries are at 20%, 30%. So it might be slowing down a little bit. But then for lithium metal, when you are less than 1%, like zero point something, it's still incredibly fast.

是的，是的。我的意思是，一些國家的整體電動車市場佔比為 20% 到 30%。所以它的速度可能會慢一點。但是對於鋰金屬來說，當其含量低於 1% 時，例如零點左右，它的速度仍然非常快。

Understood. And my next question is about your cash management. As you look into the year in 2024 and beyond, I'm trying to get an understanding of what you would see as optimal capital management in a sense that what do you have to spend versus what are optional spends do you think if we look at cash conservation for 2024 and into 2025? I mean, is it possible you could reduce that more if need be or how flexible are you on that cash budget and spend?

明白了。我的下一個問題是關於您的現金管理。當您展望 2024 年及以後時，我試圖了解您認為最佳資本管理是什麼，即如果我們考慮 2024 年和 2025 年的現金節約，您認為您必須支出什麼，哪些是可選支出？我的意思是，如果需要的話，您是否可以進一步減少這筆開支，或者您的現金預算和支出有多靈活？

Yeah, I'll answer that first. So I think the two B-sample JDAs, right, those we've made commitments. So definitely we want to install the lines, the B-sample lines. And then these are very helpful for us to make more sales and, for us, more sales meaning more data. So the two B-sample lines, we definitely plan to invest.

是的，我先回答這個問題。所以我認為兩個 B 樣本 JDA，對的，我們已經做出了承諾。所以我們肯定想安裝這些管線，B 樣本管線。這些對我們增加銷售量非常有幫助，對我們來說，更多的銷售意味著更多的數據。因此，我們肯定計劃投資這兩條 B 樣品生產線。

And then for UAM, UAM, we plan to convert one of the older lines. So instead of buying and building an entirely new line for UAM, we're not doing that. We are actually converting an old A-sample line to build UAM to save costs.

然後對於 UAM，UAM，我們計劃轉換其中一條較舊的線路。因此，我們不會為 UAM 購買並建造一條全新的生產線。我們實際上正在改造一條舊的 A 樣品生產線來建造 UAM，以節省成本。

And also, a third area is actually in AI. I think AI, we definitely want to spend it. And then training these AI models cost a lot of compute power. And then -- and this is again that the only way to win is basically by having sufficient compute power. And so far, just in the preliminary training that we have done, we actually found some very, very interesting new molecules that can be used as electrolytes. And then once we have these new electrolytes, then the new materials can extend the cycle life and then reduce the overall cost of the sale.

而且，第三個領域其實是人工智慧。我認為人工智慧，我們肯定想花掉它。然後訓練這些人工智慧模型需要大量的運算能力。然後——再次強調，獲勝的唯一方法基本上就是擁有足夠的運算能力。到目前為止，僅在我們進行的初步訓練中，我們就發現了一些可以用作電解質的非常非常有趣的新分子。一旦我們有了這些新的電解質，新材料就可以延長循環壽命，從而降低銷售的整體成本。

So I think we are committed to the B-sample spending and also probably accelerating AI spending, because it's just such an exciting area. And then if we don't do it, I think other companies will do it. But then also in areas like building sales for UAM, then we do plan to save some costs by just converting the old A-sample lines until finding a new line.

因此我認為我們致力於 B 樣本支出，並且可能加速人工智慧支出，因為這是一個非常令人興奮的領域。如果我們不這樣做，我想其他公司也會這麼做。但在諸如為 UAM 建立銷售等領域，我們確實計劃透過轉換舊的 A 樣品生產線直到找到新的生產線來節省一些成本。

Thank you. I would like to now turn it back to Kyle Pilkington for any -- for some additional questions.

謝謝。現在我想把話題轉回給凱爾‧皮爾金頓 (Kyle Pilkington)，請他回答一些其他問題。

Thank you. Yes, we did have a number of questions which were submitted in advance of the call and we'll go through a selection from those pre-submitted questions now. The first question is, has SES produced any B-sample using the existing lines? Please elaborate.

謝謝。是的，我們確實收到了一些在電話會議之前提交的問題，現在我們將從這些預先提交的問題中進行選擇。第一個問題是，SES 是否使用現有生產線生產過任何 B 樣品？請詳細說明。

So, we're still building cells using the A-sample lines, and then we are building the B-sample line. And the B-sample line is not ready yet and we expect the B-sample lines to be ready towards end of this year. And then we are improving the A-sample lines towards meeting the specs of the B-sample. So the goal is by the end of this B-sample JDA -- the two B-sample JDAs, then we will actually have the B-sample cells. But for now, we are improving the A-sample cells to meet the specs of the B-sample cells.

因此，我們仍在使用 A 樣本線建立單元，然後建立 B 樣本線。B 樣品生產線尚未準備就緒，我們預計 B 樣品生產線將在今年底準備就緒。然後，我們正在改進 A 樣品生產線以滿足 B 樣品的規格。因此，目標是在這個 B 樣本 JDA 結束時——兩個 B 樣本 JDA，然後我們實際上將擁有 B 樣本單元。但目前，我們正在改進 A 樣品電池以滿足 B 樣品電池的規格。

Okay. And the next question is, can you share any progress on the new B-sample lines?

好的。下一個問題是，您能分享任何有關新的 B 樣本生產線的進展嗎？

Now the details, because we do have confidentiality with the OEMs, but we are making very good process in terms of designing the lines, issuing the PoS and also the vendors have already started building the lines. So we do expect both lines to be operational by end of this year.

現在說細節，因為我們確實對 OEM 保密，但我們在設計線路、發布 PoS 方面做得非常好，而且供應商也已經開始建造線路了。因此我們確實預計這兩條線路將在今年年底前投入營運。

Super. The next question is, do you have any update on B-sample JDAs in addition to the first recently signed?

極好的。下一個問題是，除了最近簽署的第一個 JDA 之外，您是否還有關於 B 樣本 JDA 的最新消息？

We're not. So we're focused on the two B-sample JDAs, because we've made commitments. And in terms of getting a third or fourth additional B-sample JDAs, that's not really a focus for us because a lot of the work are similar. So we do want to make sure that we deliver to the two B-samples that we've already committed and that's our top focus.

我們不是。因此，我們專注於兩個 B 樣本 JDA，因為我們已經做出了承諾。至於獲得第三或第四個額外的 B 樣本 JDA，這並不是我們真正關注的重點，因為許多工作都是相似的。因此，我們確實希望確保交付我們已經承諾的兩個 B 樣本，這是我們的首要關注點。

Okay. And then the last question we'll take from the pre-submitted questions is, currently how safe is SES's lithium-metal cell? There is much energy packed into a small volume, and lithium metal is very reactive. Further, you talk about AI being used to improve reliability, and SES invested in explosion bunkers to evaluate issues. A skeptic might conclude that these unique and extended efforts are needed to make your cells safer. How safe are your cells today?

好的。然後，我們從預先提交的問題中得出的最後一個問題是，目前 SES 的鋰金屬電池有多安全？鋰金屬體積雖小，卻蘊藏著巨大的能量，而且鋰金屬的反應性極強。此外，您談到使用人工智慧來提高可靠性，並且 SES 投資了爆炸掩體來評估問題。懷疑論者可能會得出結論，需要這些獨特而廣泛的努力才能使您的細胞更安全。您的細胞目前有多安全？

Yeah, because lithium-metal does have higher energy density than lithium-ion, it does have a greater safety concern than lithium-ion because it has higher energy density. That's just the fundamentals of a battery. When you have a battery with a higher energy density, you will have higher safety concerns. And historically, in the past, lithium metal did have some safety issues. This is why we are spending a lot of effort on Avatar AI. So all the cells that we build, all the good cells, bad cells, actually sometimes we intentionally make the cells fail, so that we have both positive signals and negative signals, and then we use them to train Avatar AI.

是的，因為鋰金屬的能量密度確實比鋰離子高，所以它比鋰離子有更大的安全隱患，因為它的能量密度更高。這只是電池的基本原理。當你擁有能量密度更高的電池時，你會有更高的安全疑慮。而且從歷史上看，過去鋰金屬確實存在一些安全問題。這就是我們在 Avatar AI 上投入大量精力的原因。因此，我們建構的所有細胞，所有好細胞、壞細胞，實際上有時我們故意讓細胞失敗，這樣我們就會同時獲得正訊號和負訊號，然後我們用它們來訓練 Avatar AI。

So the goal of this Avatar AI is to try to ensure as close to 100% safety in the field as possible, on top of making the electrolyte safer through this AI for science effort and also making the cell design as safe as possible. But we know from a pure hardware perspective, no high energy density cells can be 100% safe. That's why we need this software, this Avatar AI on top of this hardware to make sure the actual operation in the field can be as close to 100% safe as possible. I think not just for lithium metal, but any high energy density batteries in any vehicle operations in the field must have Avatar AI.

因此，這個 Avatar AI 的目標是盡可能確保現場安全接近 100%，此外，透過這個 AI 使電解質更安全，以用於科學研究，並使電池設計盡可能安全。但我們知道，從純硬體角度來看，沒有任何高能量密度電池能夠做到 100% 安全。這就是為什麼我們需要這個軟體，這個位於硬體之上的 Avatar AI，以確保現場的實際操作盡可能接近 100% 安全。我認為不只是鋰金屬，任何車輛作業現場的高能量密度電池都必須有Avatar AI。

Great. Thanks. Thanks, Qichao. I'll pass it back to the operator to see if there's any additional questions on the line.

偉大的。謝謝。謝謝，啟超。我會將其轉回給接線員，看看是否還有其他問題。

Thank you. (Operator Instructions) And we now have a follow up question from Jed Dorsheimer with William Blair.

謝謝。（操作員指示）現在我們有來自 William Blair 的 Jed Dorsheimer 的後續問題。

Hey, guys. It's Mark again. Thanks for the additional question. I just wanted to dial in a bit more on the AI. I was wondering what you're using for the training data? Is this -- and you're saying that since being installed in the lines and especially the lithium metal line with the partner Hyundai.

嘿，大家好。又是馬克。感謝您的補充提問。我只是想對 AI 進行更多的了解。我想知道您使用什麼來訓練資料？這是嗎——您說的是自從與合作夥伴現代一起安裝在生產線上，特別是鋰金屬生產線上以來。

That has me thinking, is this -- are you looking at metrology of the lithium metal surface to try to predict yields or future current density hotspot issues? So, does it help with yields or is this more of a, we're building cells, we're doing cyclic voltammetry and stressing the cells at certain cut off voltages and monitoring in that way? So is it cell testing or is this kind of a yield thing as well?

這讓我想到，這是——您是否正在研究鋰金屬表面的計量以試圖預測產量或未來的電流密度熱點問題？那麼，它對產量有幫助嗎？或者這更像是，我們正在建造電池，我們正在進行循環伏安法並在特定的截止電壓下對電池施加壓力並以這種方式進行監控？那麼這是細胞測試還是也是產量測試呢？

So it's actually three types of data. First is the cell design. So like the cathode loading, the anode thickness and then the electrolyte, basically the design information of the cell. And the second is manufacturing data. So that includes, like you said, lithium surface morphology, roughness, electrolyte stacking, overhand misalignment, electrolyte filling, and pressure during heat sealing. So all the parameters, all the data during the manufacturing process.

所以它實際上是三種類型的數據。首先是電池設計。因此，像陰極負載、陽極厚度以及電解質，基本上就是電池的設計資訊。第二是製造業數據。因此，正如您所說，這包括鋰表面形貌、粗糙度、電解質堆疊、過度錯位、電解質填充和熱封過程中的壓力。因此製造過程中的所有參數、所有資料。

And the third is testing. So that includes like the cyclic voltammetry at high temperature, low temperature, high pressure, low pressure during cycling, the first cycle, the second cycle, all the way until 500, 600 cycles, until the cells die. And then all three types of data are used to train this model.

第三是測試。因此，這包括在循環過程中的高溫、低溫、高壓、低壓下的循環伏安法，第一次循環、第二次循環，一直到 500、600 次循環，直到細胞死亡。然後使用所有三種類型的資料來訓練該模型。

Got it. Okay, that's the whole way through. Very interesting. And do you plan on this having as a part of the BMS for any potential electric vehicles that are going to be in here? So is this -- will this be live monitoring on a go forward as well inside the cars? Or is this more of just to get the data to build the safe cell and then you get a stamp and you don't need the constant monitoring anymore?

知道了。好的，這就是全部內容。非常有趣。您是否計劃將其作為任何潛在電動車的 BMS 的一部分？那麼這是——這是否會在汽車內部進行即時監控？或者這只是為了獲取數據來建立安全單元，然後您獲得一個印章，並且不再需要持續監控？

Yes. So this will be inside the BMS. And then so we are talking about constant live monitoring. And actually, we have been doing this for some drones, and then we are starting to put this in some UAM applications. And also later in the B-sample, we definitely plan to put this in the BMS for the demo cards.

是的。所以這將在 BMS 內部。所以我們正在談論持續的即時監控。實際上，我們已經對一些無人機進行了這樣的操作，然後我們開始將其應用到一些 UAM 應用程式中。而且在 B 樣本的後期，我們肯定計劃將其放入演示卡的 BMS 中。

So, yes, the three types of data actually train three different kinds of models for the Avatar AI. And then the last part, the testing definitely will be part of the BMS, so that we can actually gather data and then use the data to turn the model live. We won't be able to do so. We can only do monitoring, and then the model will send a recommendation to the driver in terms of what to do, but then it won't be able to like actually control the battery.

所以，是的，這三種類型的資料實際上為 Avatar AI 訓練了三種不同的模型。最後一部分，測試肯定是 BMS 的一部分，這樣我們就可以實際收集數據，然後使用這些數據來使模型生效。我們將無法做到這一點。我們只能進行監控，然後模型會向駕駛員發送操作建議，但它無法真正控制電池。

Thank you. I can confirm we have no further questions, so I'd like to conclude the call here. Thank you all for joining, and please enjoy the rest of your day. You may now disconnect your lines.

謝謝。我可以確認我們沒有其他問題，所以我想就此結束通話。感謝大家的參與，祝福大家享受剩餘的一天。現在您可以斷開線路了。