NEOM: The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team has unveiled the world’s first motorsport livery designed using generative artificial intelligence, to celebrate McLaren Racing’s 60th anniversary year at this weekend’s London E-Prix.
The livery, which is a collaboration between NEOM and McLaren Racing, features artwork built on visions of the future provided by drivers Rene Rast and Jake Hughes, as well as four members of NEOM’s Graduate Development Program.
Each contributor provided a personal vision, and the results were combined in an end-to-end AI process to produce the livery.
The visions were processed by a text AI to create a series of prompts, and these were used to produce an individual artwork for each vision using text-to-image AI.
The six visuals were combined into one artwork using image-to-image AI, before being enhanced to create the high-resolution graphics that McLaren Racing designers mapped onto the car.
The young Saudi NEOM graduates, central to the design process, will join the NEOM McLaren Electric Talent Programme later this year on a 12-month development program with the team. It is part of an ongoing initiative that will welcome a number of Saudi graduates to the team over the next few years, with the aim of developing Saudi talent through experience within a world-renowned high-performance organization.
Nadhmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, said: “The NEOM McLaren Formula E Team partnership supports various NEOM commitments, from driving sustainable solutions and nurturing Saudi talent through development opportunities, to delivering new technology to the world.
“We have leveraged creative and innovative technology to create the AI-generated livery to celebrate a milestone in McLaren’s history through visions of the future.”
Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, said: “We are delighted to work with NEOM on the creation of the first AI-designed livery in motorsport.
“When the car takes its place on the grid in London this weekend, it will mark a key moment in celebration of McLaren Racing’s 60th anniversary. McLaren has a long history of innovation in motorsport and beyond, so as we celebrate our past, it’s just as important to look to the future and continue to break new ground.”
The NEOM McLaren Electric Racing partnership brings together two organizations committed to creating a better future, and supports NEOM’s aspirations to be a global leader of sports technology and innovation through collaborations on and off the track.