Breaking news

Amazon To Test AI-Created Material For Carbon Capture In Data Centers

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

December 4, 2024

Amazon is stepping up its environmental efforts by testing a groundbreaking carbon-removal material for its data centers. The company, which is tackling the growing emissions linked to the artificial intelligence systems powering these centers, has partnered with Orbital Materials, a startup that used AI to design the innovative substance.

Jonathan Godwin, CEO of Orbital Materials, explained that the new material acts like an atomic-level sponge, with cavities precisely sized to capture CO2 without interacting with other elements. This targeted approach could be a game-changer in carbon filtration.

Follow THE FUTURE on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Telegram

One of the appealing aspects of the new material is its cost-effectiveness. Godwin estimates that the material could account for just 10% of the cost associated with renting a GPU chip for AI training, significantly less than the price of traditional carbon offsets.

Meanwhile, the demand for energy in data centers is rising, as AI’s rapid development requires more power and cooling solutions. This surge poses a challenge for Amazon, which is committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2040.

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the world’s largest cloud provider by revenue, plans to begin piloting the AI-designed carbon removal material in one of its data centers starting in 2025. This initiative is part of a three-year collaboration with Orbital, which will also gain access to AWS’s technology and open-source AI tools for further development.

Howard Gefen, General Manager of AWS Energy & Utilities, stated that the partnership would promote sustainable innovation, but financial details remain undisclosed. Orbital, with offices in Princeton, New Jersey, and London, began its journey about a year ago by setting up a lab to synthesize AI-designed materials. The startup aims to work with AWS to test additional AI-generated solutions, addressing water usage and cooling requirements in data centers. Godwin co-founded Orbital, which currently employs 20 people and is supported by investors such as Radical Ventures and Nvidia’s venture arm. Before this, Godwin contributed to materials science work at Alphabet’s DeepMind until 2022.

The Future Forbes Realty Global Properties

Joe Gebbia Leads Redesign Of 27,000 U.S. Government Websites

Strategic Expansion Of U.S. National Design Studio

Joe Gebbia is leading a project to redesign U.S. government digital services through the U.S. National Design Studio. At an event hosted by The Wall Street Journal, Gebbia said designer Peter Arnell has joined as the first chief brand architect for the initiative.

A Visionary Leader For Digital Transformation

Arnell brings experience from projects with companies including Donna Karan New York, Samsung, Unilever, Pepsi, Reebok and The Home Depot. His role focuses on aligning design and usability across government platforms to improve consistency and user experience.

Follow THE FUTURE on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and Telegram

Simplifying Complexity Through Innovation

The initiative targets the redesign of approximately 27,000 government websites using design approaches applied in consumer technology products such as Airbnb. Early projects include digitising administrative processes. One redesign reduced a paper-based retirement application process from months to minutes, while another reduced a workflow from 87 clicks to 12.

Enhancing User Experience And Restoring Trust

The initiative targets long-standing issues in government websites, including fragmented navigation, session timeouts and loss of user data during interactions. Joe Gebbia said many existing platforms rely on design patterns that make services difficult to navigate. He noted that users should be able to complete tasks without confusion or repeated steps.

“This is over,” he said, referring to outdated user experiences, adding that digital services should allow citizens to interact with government systems more easily. Work led by Peter Arnell focuses on improving usability and consistency across platforms, with the aim of simplifying processes and reducing friction in online interactions.