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

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

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.

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.

Portugal’s Housing Market Sets New Highs As Prices Continue To Climb

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

Portugal’s housing market has entered another record-setting phase, with prices reaching an all-time high in September and reinforcing the country’s position among Europe’s hottest property markets.

According to the Idealista price index, home prices rose 7.9% year on year in September and advanced 0.6% from August. Based on median values, the cost of buying a home climbed to 3,228 euros per square metre nationwide.

Regional Price Growth Remains Uneven

The sharpest increases were concentrated in several district capitals and autonomous regions. Vila Real led the country with a 17.8% annual rise, followed by Leiria at 17.6%, Beja at 14.4%, Faro at 14.3% and Guarda at 14%.

Among the regions, Centro posted the strongest overall growth. At the other end of the spectrum, prices rose more modestly in Aveiro (9.3%), Setúbal (9.1%), Porto (9%), Castelo Branco (9%), Ponta Delgada (7.1%), Funchal (5.3%) and Lisbon (4.4%).

Lisbon remains the country’s most expensive city for buyers, with a median price of 6,256 euros per square metre. The wider Lisbon region is also the costliest area in Portugal to purchase housing, with a median price of 4,501 euros per square metre.

Portugal Leads The European Union In Price Growth

The surge is not limited to the domestic market. Portugal also posted the strongest house price growth in the European Union in the second quarter of 2026, according to the latest Eurostat data.

Eurostat said Portugal recorded a 16.5% increase compared with the same quarter a year earlier, ahead of Bulgaria at 15.5% and Lithuania at 14.3%. By contrast, Finland, Luxembourg and France were the only member states where prices declined.

Across the bloc, housing prices rose 4.0% in the euro area and 4.7% in the EU year on year in the second quarter of 2026. On a quarterly basis, prices increased by 1.1% in the euro area and 1.2% across the EU.

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