The conversation around AI and energy has fundamentally changed. The "easy" power is gone, as hyperscalers have run through all the obvious places to site new load, and the former coal plants and industrial sites with interconnection have been scooped up. Energy has emerged as the single greatest bottleneck to the AI revolution. This has forced a reckoning, and the industry is now embracing the very solution we founded Emerald AI to build eleven months ago: turning AI data centers themselves into flexible grid assets.

The shift is undeniable. Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed FERC to fast-track connections for flexible data centers, a move that confirms our founding thesis. After 15 years in the energy sector building large-scale, multibillion-dollar energy projects, I realized the old playbook of only building more supply couldn’t work on its own. But what if we could make energy demand smarter? What if AI itself could be the key to solving its own energy crisis and unleashing 100GW of capacity available right now to power AI?

We’ve spent the last year building the pioneering technology to do just that, preparing for the moment when the industry would be ready. That moment is here—and we are perfectly poised to meet it. Today, I’m delighted to share additional funding that’s accelerating our mission to transform AI data centers into flexible grid assets. We’ve raised an additional $18 million, bringing our total funding raised to $42.5 million, to put Emerald firmly in control of our destiny as we sprint to meet the demand of our customers. The seed extension was led by Lowercarbon Capital, with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA's venture capital arm), Radical Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, National Grid Partners, Amplo Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, Founders You Should Know Fund, Trust Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr.

We’re grateful for this rocket fuel. The pace at which the team has moved from vision to validation has been breathtaking.

• November 2024: We founded Emerald AI and built a world-class team–now half PhDs, with over 400 technical publications, and rare, combined expertise in both AI and energy.‍
• May 2025: We completed our first commercial demonstration in Arizona, proving we could flex AI demand to relieve grid stress, which has now been peer-reviewed and accepted for publication in one of the world's top scientific journals.
• ‍July 2025: Our mission was recognized at the highest levels. Emerald AI joined President Trump onstage at the Pittsburgh Energy and AI Summit, hosted by Senator Dave McCormick, and presented to the National Energy Dominance Council on how we enable the U.S. to turbocharge AI investments by overcoming grid constraints.‍
• September 2025: We expanded internationally, establishing a strategic partnership with National Grid (highlighted among the U.S.-U.K. Tech Deal announcements), and will deliver a UK‑first live trial in late 2025 on a grid‑connected data center that uses Emerald’s platform and NVIDIA accelerated computing to dynamically adjust energy consumption in real time, accelerating interconnections and supporting grid stability across the UK. We also completed our second commercial demonstration at a real-world data center, enhancing our Conductor platform and leveraging advanced simulation and AI to meet complex grid event needs while assuring stringent AI performance standards.‍
• October 2025: Today, a coalition of leaders from the artificial intelligence and energy sectors—including NVIDIA, Emerald AI, EPRI, Digital Realty, and PJM—. This facility, the 96MW Aurora AI Factory in Virginia, will serve as the implementation of a new reference design and certification standard for power-flexible AI infrastructure, enabling utilities to unlock existing grid capacity and rapidly connect new AI data centers. This builds on our collaboration with NVIDIA on the NVIDIA Omniverse DSX Blueprint for building multi‑generation, gigawatt‑scale AI Factories to help create a self-learning system that boosts grid flexibility, resilience and energy efficiency.

As AI’s energy needs soar, two potential futures emerge. In the grim version, AI data centers and power grids are adversaries. Power costs skyrocket, blackouts rise, and America's AI competitiveness stalls.

But there’s a brighter future featuring breakneck AI innovation that doesn’t break the grid. AI data centers can deliver the economic development and grid-friendly support that communities and power utilities compete to attract. As a result, the power system becomes more affordable and more reliable, not less. And America and our allies such as the United Kingdom can accelerate trillions in AI investments, supporting decades of continued innovation.

Our journey over the last year—from our first demo to helping design the reference architecture for the industry—proves this bright future is within our grasp. We are poised to seize this opportunity with a strong capital base, a world-class team, unmatched partners, and real commercial traction.

A huge thank you to our team, our partners, and our investors. Now, back to building.