Lady Gaga publicized details about Outer Bio, a skin health research company co-founded by her fiance Michael Polansky, in a tweet Friday night, August 21, 2026.
Gaga's involvement with the research firm was first revealed in her November 2025 Rolling Stone cover story, in which Polansky said, "It was her idea. She's officially on the board of directors, but they've kepy her name out of it until now. The attention that Stefani's involvement would bring wasn't necessary – it's not consumer-facing. ... When she talks about us being partners, it kind of looks like it all goes one direction, but she's the most incredible support to me as well."
Gaga, Polansky and the Outer Bio team are taking the project public now because of its large volume of scientific data and confidence in the project's impacts on the future of skincare.
What is Outer Bio?
According to its website, Outer Bio pairs "machine learning with full-thickness human skin that stays alive for weeks." Its goal is to discover and validate skin mechanisms and bioactives through human tissue testing. Chronic inflammation, aging-associated tissue remodeling and environmental stress are some of the skin tissue dysfunctions Outer Bio models. The company acquires its skin samples from donors of all genders, races, ages and parts of the body, and samples are de-identified from their donors by the time Outer Bio has them.
The company is unique with its innovative discovery platform YUNA, which unites living human skin tissue, automated in vitro screening and biomedical AI to discover new molecules and mechanisms to advance skin health. This technology allows tissue to stay alive for more than 30 days, compared to conventional ex vivo tissue that lasts about a week once separated from its source. This is extremely beneficial because, by prolonging the tissue's lifespan, Outer Bio scientists can student the impacts various stressors like UV exposure/damage, barrier disruptions, allergens and wounds have on the sample over time.
Sunburn is an example of what the expanded lifespan helps Outer Bio's team to research. Polansky told TechCrunch that researchers can induce UV damage in the living tissue, then track stress, inflammatory and recover-related responses through the course of the month. They do not seek to heal the skin sample; rather, they're interested in watching the injury and the tissue's natural biological response.
Gaga sits on the platform's Board of Directors alongside Polansky, who is also the chief executive officer, and Sara Choi.
Machine Learning & AI
Outer Bio's discovery engine incorporates machine-learning AI models trained on millions of data points. It is important to distinguish that this type of AI does not have the same negative impacts as generative AI – where generative AI creates brand new content like images and videos, machine learning refers to computers and technology analyzing existing datasets to learn patterns and make predictions.
Outer Bio screens 750 million compounds annually, with more than 30,000 multi-modal data points per compound. This means that last year alone, Outer Bio screened more than 22 quadrillion data points. Its machine-learning model also checks samples for efficacy and safety.
With its vast collection of data points, the company generates a new, viable molecular candidate every six weeks. The AI model predicts which chemicals are likely to have a positive effect on a particular tissue function. The results are then fed back into the model, which broadens its dataset and allows for more precise predictions as time progresses.
To further secure donor privacy, Outer Bio's closed AI model runs on the its own internal servers without using third-party processors or platforms. Moreover, it does not pay expressly for the donated samples, only for the transportation of the samples to its offices.
The Future of Skin Health and Dermatology
Ultimately, Outer Bio's goal is to create a predictive AI model that operates at a high-level of precision, allowing it to predict which molecules will work on living skin tissue before any lab experimentation is done, thus exponentially speeding up the process. Then, the discovered compounds will be used in purchasable cosmetic products.
Outer Bio does not seek to manufacture drugs or products to combat skin ailments. Instead, it is discoveirng cosmetic ingredients that will serve a beneficial effect in skincare products. According to TechCrunch, the firm plans to sell its ingredients to relevant outlets that will use them in their own skincare products. Some of these ingredients are likely to appear in Haus Labs cosmetic and skincare products once their viability is proven.
Next, the company will hire a specialized product development team to aid in figuring out the best way to formulate and supply the cosmetic ingredients to cosmetic manufacturers and retailers.
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