Bill Gates Just Backed This AI Startup Aiming To Create Robotic Geologists To Help Mine Lithium For Electric Vehicles

Innovative mining tech startup GeologicAI has successfully garnered $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Bill Gates's Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV). The funds will bolster the development of the Calgary, Alberta-based company's AI-powered robotic geologists.

GeologicAI, established in 2013, has spent years validating its technology across diverse mineral types and geological settings. The company has collaborated with various types of mining firms, contributing to multiple facets of the mining ecosystem, from exploration to operation.

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What Is GeologicAI Doing?

The startup's primary objective is to modernize the labor-intensive core logging process, frequently plagued with manual data entries. Improved geological understanding, supported by multisensor machine vision, is crucial to achieving a more efficient, environmentally friendly and cost-effective mining industry.

GeologicAI's technology is capable of analyzing rock samples and pinpointing resources beneath the Earth's crust.

The timely funding from Gates's BEV comes as the world braces for an imminent mineral supply deficit because of rising demand for clean energy technologies.  Electric vehicle companies like Tesla Inc.,

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This funding round solidifies GeologicAI's position as a significant player in cleantech and underscores the pivotal role it could play in supplying essential batteries and base metals required for the clean energy transition.

For this vision to materialize, the firm's robotic geologists will need to aid in mining minerals like lithium and cobalt. By 2030, existing lithium mines are predicted to barely satisfy half of the global demand, even if they maintain their current production rates. 

Similarly, projections based on mining data and estimated demand suggest that cobalt supply will struggle to meet demand by 2030, even with comprehensive recycling.

With all this in mind, GeologicAI's move to the forefront is perfectly timed. 

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