X, the moonshot factory’s Post

“We’re sitting on a goldmine of renewable energy—yet much of it goes to waste due to our inability to harness it effectively.” Inverters are an essential part of the world’s transition to clean energy: transforming renewable resources like wind and solar into the electricity we use every day. But current inverters aren’t designed for a grid run on dynamic renewables, and have caused accidents like blackouts and even catastrophic fires. X’s Tapestry team partnered with researchers at Australia’s CSIRO to prototype a first-of-its-kind “smart” inverter that addresses many of these challenges. Here’s how: https://lnkd.in/euTn5jUE

“AI is a lever for our minds.” X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller sat down with the Wall Street Journal’s Kate Linebaugh for the latest episode of “The Journal” podcast, where he shared why he believes AI will create unexpected opportunities as our definition of work evolves.  “The jobs changed, and there was some re-training that had to happen,” Astro said, drawing a comparison to how the invention of spreadsheets transformed the relatively straightforward vocation of bookkeeping into the more lucrative field of accounting. “But in the end, the work was more interesting, and there were actually more opportunities for the same people. I would like to think that AI will do that for many, if not all, of us.” Listen to the full episode to hear the origin stories of our most successful moonshots, how X is finding new pathways to building sustainable businesses, our investments in the climate space, and more. Link in the comments 👇

“If proven, the technology could make it possible to use more of the renewable energy coming from Australia’s rooftop solar installations.” X’s Tapestry team partnered with scientists from Australia’s CSIRO to design a first-of-its-kind “smart” inverter aimed to help accelerate the global transition to clean energy. Australia currently captures more clean energy from natural resources than it can use. Reporter Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson from the Australian Associated Press (AAP) looked at how Tapestry and CSIRO’s prototype has the potential to address the country’s “solar surplus problem,” making it easier to onboard renewables to the electric grid while ensuring it remains stable and reliable: Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/g75yHpFz

“This technology is completely vital to powering a stable electric grid that runs on renewable resources.” Tapestry, X’s moonshot for the electric grid, recently partnered with Australia’s CSIRO to prototype a new “smart” inverter to help us quickly and safely transition to an electric grid run on clean energy sources like wind and solar.  Equipped with advanced sensors and software, the new smart inverters can communicate with other devices on the grid and work together to maintain grid stability. Learn how the teams worked together to develop this technology:

Tapestry's Page Crahan is heading to Brazil next week for Energy Summit Global to teach a master class on the Electric Grid Revolution and speak with MIT's André L. Miceli about the latest trends in energy management and AI. If you'll be in the Rio area and are interested in clean energy, we hope to see you there!

La Boheme at lunch! Thanks to the San Francisco Opera for bringing a delightful midday treat to the moonshot factory and delivering a special, abridged version of the opera on a stage fashioned from a shipping container. We loved spending our lunch hour listening to your stunning voices — and prototyping new types of hats out of the program materials to keep the sun out of our eyes!

Congratulations to the team at 280 Earth, who just announced that their first direct air capture plant is now up and running in Oregon! The X graduate has developed a novel process to remove carbon from the atmosphere by harnessing the waste heat from data centers and other large industrial operations, and then generating clean water as a byproduct. With technology developed by scientists at the moonshot factory, 280 Earth aims to mitigate—and reverse—the effects of climate change by permanently sequestering carbon dioxide from the air using a system that can operate at unprecedentedly low temperatures. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gRETMwW6

”When we find out we aren’t as special as we thought, it feels like we lost something. But we gain something, too: We get to learn how the world actually is.” Speaking at the The Wall Street Journal’s Future of Everything Festival in New York City last week, X’s Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller gave a deeply personal talk on his meaning of life, how he discovered it, and the perceived threats AI poses to our “specialness.” Astro discussed the motivating factors humans use to find meaning, and why major scientific advancements—like discovering that the earth is not the center of the universe, or today’s developments in AI—can feel destabilizing and threaten our sense of what it means to be human. But Astro argues that artificial intelligence is an invitation to thoughtfully examine how we find meaning. And as we navigate the big societal shifts that will inevitably accompany the rise of AI, we have an opportunity to allow these changes to impact our lives for the better—not only practically, but also philosophically. “If we can decouple this supposed ‘specialness’ from what it actually is to search for meaning in our lives, then maybe we can look through clearer eyes at what actually is meaningful to us,” Astro says. “And my own search for meaning is only going to benefit from new tools and new discoveries in the world.” https://lnkd.in/guUdEUyE