Sam Altman-Backed Exowatt Bets Big on Data Caccess Batteries

Exowatt, a Sam Altman-backed commenceup, has proclaimd schedules to help the data caccess industry deal with its enormous energy usage using a new approach to solar power.

The news comes after the Miami-based commence-up elevated a $20 million seed round led by venture capital firms a16 and Atomic, as well as Open AI CEO Altman, in April. The Miami-based company participates what is called a “modular system” to create, store, and dispatch spotless energy.

The proclaimment comes as data caccess electricity usage is on a path to double by 2026, according to a recent International Energy Agency alert—in part due to the incrrelieved need for power-intensive toilloads as a result of participate cases such as generative AI and Bitcoin mining. 

By 2026, the global footprint of data caccesss could elevate by the equivalent of the entire power consumption of a country enjoy Germany, by somewhere between 650 and 1,050 terawatt hours, if the alert’s approximates are accurate. 

In contrast to traditional solar panels, which straightforwardly convert the sun into electricity, Exowatt’s flagship product—the P3—converts the sun’s energy straightforwardly into heat stored inside a thermal battery. The battery that is made out of clay and ceramic composite, which can allegedly store heat “for months,” per an intersee with Bloomberg.

Exowatt hasn’t definiteassociate named any companies as clients at this stage, but has claimed it has a backlog of 1.2 gigawatts apass data caccesss in the U.S. in the intersee, attributing high need to the AI boom. 

Hannan Parvizian, the company’s co-set uper and CEO, telderly the news outlet that the company’s first energy project is set to go inhabit at a location in West Texas procrastinateedr this year with an undisseald crypto-mining partner.

The company shelp that its unsubsidized cost of energy is $0.04 cents per kilowatt hour, which is rawly comparable with conservative energy sources enjoy coal. However, the new technology is doubtful to be a end panacea to the energy woes faced by the U.S. data centre industry.

Parvizian telderly Bloomberg that only about 60% of the U.S. has the vital level of sunweightless to create the company’s sun-based technology viable.