Waymo is giving old robotaxi batteries a second life on the electric grid. The self-driving car company is partnering with B2U Storage Solutions to repurpose thousands of retired EV batteries into large-scale energy storage systems for solar power. Waymo’s autonomous ride-hail vehicles wear through batteries faster than personal electric vehicles because they spend far more time on the road…
Google has announced a suite of water stewardship commitments designed to outpace its data center consumption by 2030. Operating 165 projects across 97 watersheds, the tech giant aims to replenish more than 19 billion gallons of water annually. This target is more than double its 2024 consumption footprint, translating to enough water to supply Los Angeles for over 40 days…
Some of the world’s biggest tech companies are turning data centers into testing grounds for cleaner infrastructure. Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are partnering with nonprofit investment firm Elemental Impact to help climate startups pilot technologies such as advanced cooling, energy storage, low-carbon building materials, and other tools that could reduce the environmental strain of AI growth…
Anthropic and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are putting $200 million toward AI tools designed for some of the world’s hardest-to-reach needs, from neglected disease research to classroom support and economic mobility. The four-year partnership combines grant funding, Claude usage credits, and technical support for programs in the U.S. and abroad, with a focus on areas that often attract less commercial investment despite their public impact…
Several major companies have joined a new national initiative aimed at strengthening workforce safety and climate resilience. Health Action Alliance launched Extreme Weather + Work with founding member companies including Google, Disney, CVS Health, Bristol Myers Squibb, Elevance Health, Sun Life, Hackensack Meridian Health, Mercer, and The Hartford. The initiative is presented by Mercer, a business of Marsh, with support from The Hartford…
As the June 1 start of the 2026 hurricane season approaches, Verizon is expanding its disaster response capabilities to help keep communities, first responders, and recovery crews connected during major storms. The company is adding digital twin technology, a larger satellite fleet, and an employee volunteer corps trained with the American Red Cross to speed network restoration and support emergency shelters after disasters…
A partnership between Viz.ai and the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) is set to bring life-saving artificial intelligence to America’s most underserved medical frontiers. Launched on April 30, 2026, the initiative targets a stark “technology canyon”: research indicates that rural hospitals are currently 25% less likely to adopt advanced tools like AI than their urban counterparts, often due to thin budgets and a lack of on-site specialists…
General Motors has become the first U.S. automaker to secure enough renewable energy to match 100% of its domestic electricity use. The milestone follows an expansion of clean-energy utility programs, virtual power purchase agreements, and other renewable energy sources across the company’s U.S. operations. Globally, GM now matches 70% of its electricity usage with renewables, nearly doubling its 2023 levels…
A significant breakthrough in climate resilience is expanding life-saving infrastructure to the world’s most vulnerable urban centers. According to a technical update from Google Research, the rollout of new flash flood predictions on the Flood Hub platform now provides up to 24 hours of advance notice for rapid-onset events. This Google-led initiative specifically targets urban areas with population densities exceeding 100 people per square kilometer, addressing a critical “warning gap” where developing nations in the Global South previously lacked the physical sensors and hydrological maps necessary for traditional forecasting…
In this episode, we speak with Chris Walters, CEO of Finastra, a financial services software provider across lending, payments, treasury and capital markets, and digital and retail banking. Finastra serves roughly 7,000+ customers worldwide, including about 80% of the world’s top 50 banks, and supports large-scale financial workflows—helping move about $7 trillion in transactions per day and supporting syndicated lending activity measured in the trillions…
