OpenAI’s Sam Altman invests in 3-in-1 module for datacenters

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, and venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Atomic, have made a first round of investment worth $20 million in Exowatt, a start-up focused on creating sustainable energy solutions for datacenters. The renewable energy company recently unveiled a modular platform for powering energy-intensive datacenters such as those hosting Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems.

At a panel discussion in Davos last January, Altman had already warned that a breakthrough in energy generation will be necessary to advance with AI models. OpenAI’s big boss is in favour of renewable energy sources and said he was motivated to continue investing in these technologies. Personally, he has already invested $375 million in the nuclear fusion start-up Helion Energy.

Exowatt’s flagship product, the Exowatt P3, brings innovation with a modular 3-in-1 system that stores energy in the form of heat and then converts it into electricity via a motor. The package consists of a heat collector system, a thermal battery and a heat engine capable of supplying energy and heat throughout the day. Unlike traditional solar panels that convert sunlight into electricity, Exowatt uses an approach that stores solar energy in a thermal battery capable of retaining energy for up to 24 hours a day.

Exowatt P3 modules are designed to fit into a standard 40-foot container and can be deployed in small and large commercial and industrial projects, with linear scaling according to workload and infrastructure requirements.

According to Exowatt, its approach makes it possible to store energy at a fraction of the cost of electrochemical batteries, or $0.01 per kilowatt-hour or even less in some cases, which is below the cost of fossil fuels and renewable energy alternatives. In addition, it will not be dependent on the supply chain for metals at risk of scarcity. The design of the heat engine makes it possible to reliably supply electricity 24 hours a day, regardless of weather conditions.

“Unlike traditional solutions that require significant initial investments and extensive set-up time, Exowatt’s modular system can be deployed quickly and economically. It will be available later this year,” says Hannan Parvizian, CEO and co-founder of Exowatt. “Exowatt was created to respond quickly to the growing energy demands of the modern world, especially those stimulated by the accelerated growth of AI,” he adds.

“AI models are doubling in size every three months, a pace that requires much more power from datacenters. To keep up with advances in AI, we need more sustainable energy solutions, which is why we created Exowatt. Our mission is to provide extremely low-cost energy that increases the capacity of the global AI infrastructure while protecting our planet,” says Jack Abraham, CEO of Atomic and co-founder of Exowatt. Atomic is a start-up studio with six companies, including Exowatt, backed by venture capital firms.

“Exowatt is an innovative company helping to meet our nation’s growing energy demands. By committing to full manufacturing in the United States with domestically sourced components, Exowatt will significantly strengthen our infrastructure and resilience as a nation,” said Katherine Boyle, partner at Andreessen Horowitz.

Jack Abraham and Hannan Parvizian came together to found Exowatt bringing a wealth of experience in the energy and venture capital sectors. Parvizian has participated in the development of complex hardware products on a large scale, having worked at Tesla, General Electric and Siemens. He has also founded and sold an advanced delivery drone company. Abraham has founded dozens of companies and turned Atomic into the leading venture capital studio, with a view to identifying some of the world’s biggest challenges and creating companies to overcome them. According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Altman’s current investment was partly motivated by his friendship with Abraham.

Exowatt claims to have a cumulative demand of more than 500 megawatts for datacenters in the United States and plans to start deployment projects later this year. With this initial funding of $20 million, it intends to expand its team and deploy the Exowatt P3 in its first group of datacenter customers.