Lady Gaga and her fiancé, Michael Polansky, are expanding their partnership into biotech by investing in a company focused on advancing skin research. The new venture, Outer Bio, reportedly uses human tissue and artificial intelligence to study aging, inflammation, damage, and other skin-health concerns. The company claims its AI can dramatically speed up the search for promising new skin ingredients by predicting which compounds are worth testing.
Lady Gaga is stepping further into the science of skin health with her fiancé, Michael Polansky. The singer shared details about Outer Bio on Friday, August 21, a research company she co-founded with her future husband.
Rather than selling skincare products directly to consumers, the firm focuses on discovering and testing new approaches to skin health.
Outer Bio’s research platform, YUNA, reportedly combines machine learning with full-thickness human skin tissue that can remain viable for more than 30 days. The company says this lets researchers study issues such as chronic inflammation, aging, collagen remodeling, environmental damage, and wound healing over longer periods.
Its technology also uses automated screening and AI to identify promising compounds before testing them on human tissue. According to Outer Bio, the resulting data then feeds back into its models to improve future predictions.
How Outer Bio’s AI Hunts For New Skin Ingredients
Outer Bio’s artificial intelligence is essentially being trained to make better bets about which chemicals could benefit human skin.
According to TechCrunch, Polansky claims the model predicts how previously untested compounds might affect a particular skin function. Researchers then test those predictions and use the outcomes, including failures, to sharpen the system’s next round of selections.
Polansky says the approach has dramatically accelerated the hunt for potential ingredients. Before adding AI, researchers reportedly spent about 18 months using a more labor-intensive process that produced only a couple of leads.
How Lady Gaga And Michael Polansky Became Business Partners
Gaga and Polansky’s business partnership appears to have grown out of their personal relationship and a shared creative rhythm. According to Rolling Stone Australia, after the couple began dating, Polansky encouraged Gaga to take greater control of her music.
She eventually began asking for his input, which led him to offer ideas on lyrics and songs during the making of “Mayhem.” Some of those suggestions made the final album, earning Polansky songwriting credits. He later joined Gaga and producer Andrew Watt as an executive producer on the project.
Gaga has described the pair as best friends who are “always being creative,” and Polansky went on to work with her across planning for the Mayhem Ball. He was credited alongside Gaga as a creative director and executive producer on the tour.
Gaga Already Built A Beauty Business With Haus Labs
Outer Bio is not Gaga’s first attempt to turn her interest in beauty into a business. The singer launched Haus Laboratories in 2019, initially building the brand around the bold makeup she knew from stages, red carpets, and fashion shoots.
By 2022, however, Gaga admitted she had entered the industry without being a beauty expert. She also realized most customers weren’t trying to recreate her performance looks.
That prompted a major overhaul. Haus Labs returned with a stronger focus on products that combined high-impact makeup with skincare ingredients. Gaga said the revamped formulas included proprietary ingredients and excluded thousands of substances the brand considered undesirable.
Lady Gaga Embraces AI Without Leaving Humans Behind
While clearly not afraid to invest in this latest AI venture, Gaga has previously defended the importance of human creativity in her own work.
In 2025, her music video for “The Dead Dance” faced online accusations that some of its unusual visuals were AI-generated. The Tim Burton-directed clip featured eerie dolls whose distorted movements prompted suspicion from some viewers.
However, one animator on the project denied using AI to animate the dolls, saying a VFX studio created them. Production company The Roots also published an extensive list of credits detailing the artists and designers behind the video.
Months later, Gaga addressed AI more broadly during an interview with Zane Lowe. She said she was not afraid of the technology, but stressed that human connection remained essential, even as pop music becomes increasingly polished and technically precise.
“Being a human being isn’t going to go out of style anytime soon,” Gaga said.
