DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

An advanced geothermal project has begun pumping carbon-free electricity onto the Nevada grid to power Google data centers there, Google announced Tuesday. Getting electrons onto the grid for the first time is a milestone many new energy companies never reach, said Tim Latimer, CEO and co-founder of Google's geothermal partner in the project, Houston-based Fervo Energy. Political Cartoons View All 1267 ImagesFervo is using this first pilot to launch other projects that will deliver far more carbon-free electricity to the grid. Google and Fervo Energy started working together in 2021 to develop next-generation geothermal power. Google announced back in 2020 that it would use carbon-free energy every hour of every day, wherever it operates, by 2030.

Persons: Tim Latimer, ” Latimer, Michael Terrell, We’re, ”, Terrell, “, ” Terrell, Jennifer Granholm, Granholm, Sarah Jewett, Latimer, DCVC, Rachel Slaybaugh, Fervo, Slaybaugh, it’s, Jewett Organizations: Google, Energy, International Energy Agency, Fervo Energy, U.S . Energy Information Administration, Energy Department, DOE, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, AP Locations: Nevada, Houston, Utah, Winnemucca , Nevada, Las Vegas, Reno, United States, California , Nevada , Utah, Hawaii , Oregon , Idaho, New Mexico, Latimer, Fervo, Beaver County , Utah

☆ This startup CEO claims he can completely decarbonize the cement industry
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-17 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Brimstone Energy, a California-based startup, is one of several companies trying to reduce the carbon emissions from the production of cement, which accounts for about 8% of global carbon emissions. Unlike limestone, however, the silicate rock contains no CO2, so there are no such emissions associated with the production process. Last July it received certification that its product is essentially the same as Portland cement. Not only does the silicate rock Brimstone uses not emit carbon, it actually absorbs carbon. "Ultimately, our plan, our goal would be to develop a credibly lower-cost process to make Portland cement at scale.

Persons: Cody Finke, Finke, Cooper, Lisa Rizzolo Organizations: Brimstone Energy, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, DCVC, Fund, S2G Ventures, CNBC Locations: California, Portland

☆ Agility Robotics is opening a humanoid robot factory, beating Tesla to the punch
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-18 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Agility Robotics is wrapping up construction of a factory in Salem, Oregon, where it plans to mass-produce its first line of humanoid robots, called Digit. The 70,000 square-foot facility, which the company is calling the "RoboFab," is the first of its kind, according to Damion Shelton, CEO and co-founder of Agility Robotics. For now, though, Agility Robotics is focused on the installation and testing of its first production lines. Matt Ocko, managing partner at DCVC and an investor in Agility, told CNBC that Digit should "fill millions of unmet roles that human beings don't want." At the same time, he emphasized, Agility Robotics has designed its humanoid robots to work safely and autonomously as a "robotic co-worker."

Persons: Damion Shelton, Aindrea Campbell, Campbell, that's, Optimus, Shelton, crouch, Agility's, Matt Ocko Organizations: Agility Robotics, Ford, CNBC, Robotics, DCVC, Playground Global Locations: Salem , Oregon

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File PhotoJune 26 (Reuters) - Databricks said on Monday it had agreed to acquire artificial intelligence (AI) startup MosaicML in a mostly stock deal valued at $1.3 billion, marking Databricks' latest efforts to build an ecosystem for enterprises to use open-source AI models. San Francisco-based MosaicML provides software tools designed to make it cheaper to carry out AI work, which often involves training AI algorithms on huge troves of data using expensive computer chips. Databricks said the deal would combine its AI technology with MosaicML's language-model platform, allowing businesses a "simple, fast way to retain control, security, and ownership over their valuable data without high costs". Databricks, which sells software tools for building AI systems, has been an advocate for open-source models, which it argues could rival the models players like OpenAI and Google are offering. Both Databricks and MosaicML have released open-source foundation models, which is the category of core technology behind services like OpenAI's ChatGPT.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Databricks, MosaicML, Tiyashi Datta, Krystal Hu, Pooja Desai, Mark Potter Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Microsoft Corp, Lux Capital, Thomson Locations: San Francisco, Bengaluru, Toronto

☆ Amogy retrofits vehicles ranging from drones to tractors to make them run on sustainable ammonia. It just raised $139 million with this 18-slide pitch deck.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-22 | by ( Tasmin Lockwood | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

We got an exclusive look at the 18-slide deck Amogy used to raise the money. A startup betting on ammonia as a next-generation fuel has just secured $139 million in an all-equity Series B extension. New York-based Amogy has created a retrofit energy system to replace engines, which allows ammonia to be used as a fuel. Ammonia is predicted to account for 45% of all shipping fuel in a net zero 2050 scenario modeled by the International Energy Agency. The company is also working with upstream players to help decarbonize the fuel, Woo said.

☆ Silicon Valley Bank seizure leaves a massive hole — and a large opportunity — in the world of climate finance
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-15 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

"Nobody understands startups as well as Silicon Valley Bank and how to lend to them," says Zachary Bogue, a long-time tech investor and cofounder of DCVC. "Silicon Valley Bank understood that even though we may have only had $10,000 or so in deposits at the time, we had a lot of potential," Clerico told CNBC. "That early investment in our relationship paid off," Clerico told CNBC. In this, the bank "was a climate bank pioneer," said Steph Speirs, co-founder and CEO of Solstice Power Technologies, which has built a technology to help connect people to community solar projects. But it will take some time, and delays can be costly in the fight against climate change," Bhatraju told CNBC.

☆ SVB is the first social media bank run in history. The crisis will change the banking industry forever.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-14 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

It's an all out bank run," founder Howard Lerman tweeted on Thursday when SVB was trying to raise new capital. "The thing about a bank run is that there's no upside to keeping your money in the at-risk bank," wrote Xavier Helgesen of Enduring Ventures the same day. Another deleted tweet says, "As one of probably the few founders to go through a modern bank run, get your money out now. Some tech types who banked with SVB have even deleted tweets they put out in support of the bank. 'MONDAY, BLOODY MONDAY'Meanwhile, Jason Calcanis and David Sacks, tech founders turned investors, have been tweeting about little but SVB since Thursday.

☆ Saudi Aramco backs Brooklyn-based startup turning ammonia into fuel
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Diana Olick | In Dianaolick | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

New technology and new companies are working on turning ammonia into hydrogen to power tractors, trucks and even ships. The technology enables the on-board "cracking" (or decomposition) of ammonia into hydrogen, which is then sent into a fuel cell to power a vehicle. "We are partnering a lot with industry stakeholders in shipping and heavy manufacturing in heavy industries. One of Amogy's investors, Saudi Aramco, is the largest petroleum producer in the world, but sees ammonia as part of its future. In addition to Saudi Aramco, Amogy is backed by Amazon 's Climate Pledge Fund, AP Ventures, SK Innovation and DCVC.

☆ Silicon Valley startup beaming electricity wirelessly raises $30 million
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Jane Lanhee Lee | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec 2 (Reuters) - Reach Power Inc, a Silicon Valley startup that beams electricity wirelessly, said on Friday it had raised $30 million in a funding round that will help it commercialize its products. In a demonstration for Reuters, Davlantes connected a radio with no batteries to an antenna-based wireless power receiver that turned on the radio as far as 25 feet (7.6 meters) from the power transmitter. Asked about the safety of shooting stronger beams of electricity, Dalvantes said the systems can detect objects and switch off or route around them. "We always guarantee when you're around one of our systems, you're getting exposure that meets the same limits as all of the cellphones," he said. Reach has signed a contract with the U.S. Defense Department for prototypes that can combine multiple energy-beaming modules for stronger power transmission or longer ranges, he said.

☆ Why Silicon Valley is so hot on nuclear energy and what it means for the industry
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( Catherine Clifford | In Catclifford | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +13 min

Pallava Bagla | Corbis News | Getty ImagesVenture capitalists in Silicon Valley and other tech hubs are investing money in nuclear energy for the first time in history. This surge of private investment will be a positive for the industry, agrees John Parsons, an economist and lecturer at MIT. Nuclear energy is "a very complex science, and it's been supported by the federal government and at these national labs. In the 1960s and 1970s, large conglomerates constructed big nuclear power plants, and those projects often ran over budget. New generations of nuclear reactors will have different sizes, different coolants and different fuels, explained Matt Crozat, senior director of policy development at the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Search resuls for: "DCVC"

10 mentions found