Could Emerging Technologies Like AI, Quantum Computing, and Robotics Function Without Rare Earths?

Rare earth elements (REEs) — a group of 17 metallic elements that include the lanthanides, plus scandium and yttrium — have quietly become the nervous system of the modern technological age.
They are in the magnets that move robotic limbs, the phosphors that create computer displays, and the doped crystals that store quantum information.
As the world accelerates toward an era dominated by artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, and robotics, the question arises: could these technologies function — or even exist — without rare earths?
The short answer is no, not in their current forms. REEs are too deeply integrated into the physical foundation of these technologies to be easily replaced. However, the long answer is more nuanced — involving emerging substitutes, recycling innovations, and a strategic rethinking of material science.
This article explores in depth how rare earths underpin these frontier technologies and what would happen if they suddenly became unavailable.
A. The Physical Reality Behind the Digital Future
AI, robotics, and quantum computing may appear to exist in the abstract — code, data, and algorithms — but all these digital systems depend on hardware built from specialized materials. Rare earths serve as the functional enablers that make these devices small, efficient, and powerful.
Without rare earths:
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Robots would be slower and bulkier.
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Quantum computers would lose coherence and stability.
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AI supercomputers would consume more energy and operate less efficiently.
Thus, even though the world talks about the “digital” or “intelligent” revolution, the truth is that these revolutions are materially grounded in the chemistry of rare earth elements.
B. Artificial Intelligence and the Rare Earth Backbone
1. The Hardware That Runs AI
Artificial intelligence runs on high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure — massive clusters of graphics processing units (GPUs) and tensor processing units (TPUs) that perform trillions of calculations per second. These components depend on REEs in several ways:
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Polishing Semiconductors: Cerium oxide is a key agent for polishing silicon wafers to atomic-level smoothness. Without it, producing the next generation of microchips (used in Nvidia, AMD, and AI accelerators) would be nearly impossible.
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Cooling Systems: Neodymium and samarium magnets power the miniature cooling fans and compressors that prevent overheating in data centers.
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Display and Lighting Systems: Yttrium, europium, and terbium are used in the phosphors that illuminate monitors and status displays in AI labs and server farms.
The global AI infrastructure consumes enormous power — estimated at over 1% of total global electricity — so efficiency is critical. Rare earth-based magnets and phosphors make this efficiency possible.
2. Sensors and Data Acquisition
AI depends on sensors to perceive the world — cameras, microphones, radar, and lidar systems — all of which rely on REEs.
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Neodymium and dysprosium are used in actuators and lens-focusing motors in cameras and optical sensors.
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Yttrium-aluminum-garnet (YAG) lasers, doped with neodymium, produce high-intensity beams used in 3D scanning and machine vision.
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Terbium and europium create the luminescent materials in display and imaging systems that AI uses for pattern recognition.
Without these elements, sensor precision would drop, making AI systems less capable of analyzing real-world data accurately.
3. Could AI Exist Without Rare Earths?
In theory, software-based AI algorithms could still run without REEs — but the hardware would suffer. Substituting REE-based magnets with weaker alternatives (like ferrite) would increase energy consumption and reduce performance.
Data centers would require more space, more power, and more cooling, drastically raising costs. The “AI revolution” would become slower, more expensive, and less sustainable.
In short, AI could exist without rare earths, but it would no longer scale at the speed and efficiency we know today.
C. Robotics: The Movement of Rare Earths
1. The Magnetic Core of Motion
Every robot — from industrial arms to humanoid assistants — relies on electric motors for movement. These motors almost universally use neodymium-iron-boron (NdFeB) magnets because of their incredible magnetic strength-to-weight ratio.
A single industrial robot may contain up to 2–5 kilograms of rare earth magnets across its joints and actuators. These magnets provide high torque in compact designs, allowing robots to move with precision, agility, and speed.
Without rare earths, robotic motion systems would need to use heavier electromagnets or bulkier mechanical drives, making robots:
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Less energy-efficient,
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Slower to respond, and
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Harder to miniaturize.
2. Sensors, Vision, and Grasping
Robots depend on a vast network of sensors — from gyroscopes to vision systems — all built using REEs.
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Gadolinium is used in magnetometers and MRI-based sensors that provide orientation and spatial feedback.
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Lanthanum improves camera lens clarity and infrared sensitivity, critical for robotic vision.
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Terbium and dysprosium stabilize magnetic fields in precision motion systems.
These materials allow robots to perceive and interact with their environments safely — from factory floors to hospital rooms.
3. Could Robotics Function Without REEs?
Technically, yes — robots could be built with copper coils, steel, and other traditional materials. But they would be less precise, larger, and costlier. The world’s drive toward collaborative robotics, autonomous drones, and micro-scale robotics (used in surgery and agriculture) would be slowed by decades.
In effect, the absence of rare earths would freeze robotics in the 1980s — before the miniaturization and energy efficiency that define modern automation.
D. Quantum Computing: A Frontier Dependent on Rare Earth Physics
1. Rare Earths as Quantum Bits
Quantum computing is the most futuristic and fragile technology under development — and rare earths play an active role even here.
Certain REE ions such as europium (Eu³⁺), ytterbium (Yb³⁺), and neodymium (Nd³⁺) have unique electron configurations that make them ideal for quantum bits (qubits) — the building blocks of quantum computation.
These ions are embedded in crystals or optical cavities, where they can store and process quantum information using their electron spin or optical transitions. Europium-doped yttrium orthosilicate, for instance, is used in quantum memory experiments due to its long coherence times and ability to maintain quantum states even at cryogenic temperatures.
2. Rare Earths in Lasers and Cryogenics
Quantum computers rely heavily on precise laser control and cooling systems:
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Neodymium-doped lasers (Nd:YAG) provide the high-frequency optical control needed to manipulate qubits.
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Gadolinium and dysprosium are used in cryogenic coolers and magnetic shielding to maintain near-absolute-zero conditions.
Without these materials, stabilizing qubits would become almost impossible — limiting the number of operations a quantum computer could perform before decoherence destroys its data.
3. Could Quantum Computing Evolve Without REEs?
Currently, no viable alternative materials match the optical and magnetic precision of REE-doped systems for quantum memory and communication. While some research explores silicon, diamond, or superconducting alternatives, these approaches face their own limitations.
In short, quantum computing without rare earths would lose one of its most promising hardware paths, significantly slowing progress in the field.
E. Searching for Substitutes and Sustainability
1. Material Substitution
Researchers are actively seeking replacements for REEs in magnets and electronics, such as:
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Iron-nitride (Fe-N) and cobalt alloys as potential magnet alternatives.
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Organic phosphors or quantum dots to replace europium and terbium in displays.
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Non-REE dopants for laser and fiber optics.
However, these substitutes are often less efficient, less durable, or more expensive — highlighting the challenge of replacing REEs at scale.
2. Recycling and Urban Mining
The more realistic solution lies in recycling. End-of-life electronics, electric motors, and turbines are rich in recoverable rare earths. Japan, the EU, and the U.S. are investing in “urban mining” — extracting REEs from discarded products using clean chemical processes.
If properly scaled, recycling could meet 20–30% of global REE demand by 2040, reducing environmental impact and geopolitical risk.
F. The Strategic Consequence of Dependency
The modern technological ecosystem — from AI supercomputers to surgical robots — rests on a fragile foundation: rare earth supply chains concentrated mostly in China. If access were disrupted, global industries could face years of paralysis.
This dependency has spurred governments to treat REEs as strategic resources, much like oil in the 20th century. Nations that control REE refining and magnet manufacturing will effectively control the pace of technological progress in AI, robotics, and quantum research.
The Material Limits of the Digital Future
Artificial intelligence may write code, robots may perform surgeries, and quantum computers may break encryption — but none of these miracles happen in a vacuum. They are bound to the physical reality of the elements that make them possible.
Rare earths are the atoms of intelligence, the metals of motion, and the crystals of computation. Without them, the bright promises of AI, robotics, and quantum computing would dim into technological regression.
Thus, the challenge for the coming decade is not whether humanity can build smarter machines — but whether it can secure, recycle, and innovate around the rare earths that give those machines life.
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