As AI boosts demand for copper, microbes offer a solution

The Internet’s next existential crisis won’t be disinformation or deepfakes. It will be of copper.

The world is building AI like Minecraft, with little regard for the physical boundaries of the data centers, transmission lines, and cooling systems beneath them. Everyone focuses on the models and calculations, but few acknowledge the metal that drives them.

Every piece of modern electrical infrastructure—not just AI—depends on copper. AI data centers are just accelerating the demand. A hyperscale facility may require thousands of tons of copper. For example, a Microsoft data center More than 2,000 tons were usedOr 27 tonnes per MWh. A McKinsey report predicts that overall transmission build-out could increase annual global copper demand by approximately 37 million tonnes by 2031,

Available copper is running out. More than 70 percent of global reserves are locked in ores that conventional mining struggles to process efficiently. Tens of billions of tons lie idle in waste heaps and marginal deposits, ignored by industry but still rich in potential.

That ability is what has drawn me here. As a geologist who later worked in energy and cloud infrastructure, I saw firsthand the growing need for copper – and felt I had the knowledge to help address it. In 2023, I founded a startup called endolith To recover copper from these forgotten sources. The tool is not a drill or dynamite. These are germs.

How does microbial mining work?

These pathogens are naturally evolved, field-deployable and highly effective recovering copper From complex ores like chalcopyrite and energite. They thrive in the leaching heap, in real-world situations, working with real clients. And bonus: They use less energy, deliver more copper, and have a smaller environmental footprint than traditional methods.

And what are those traditional methods? Typically, mines extract copper from ores by grinding the rock, concentrating the ore, and then using high-temperature smelting or chemical leaching with strong acids. Both approaches are energy-intensive, slow to unlock the copper, and leave behind large amounts of waste and emissions.

Endolith researchers use machine learning to determine which microbes to deploy in a given location and how to adjust the mix over time. Dynamic Tech Media/Endolith

In contrast, our “microbial minions” work by speeding up the natural process. bioleachingInstead of relying on smelting or harsh acids, endolith’s microbes attach to the ore and rapidly extract the copper. They adapt to the chemistry of different rocks, recover more metal, and do it with less energy use and less environmental impact.

To make this possible, we rely on machine learning. Genomic and metabolic data from thousands of microbes has been drawn upon to predict which strains can survive in extreme ores such as chalcopyrite or energite, and how they will perform under different environmental conditions. These models guide which microbial communities are deployed, how they are tuned for each site, and how they adapt over time. In fact, AI is what transforms biology from trial-and-error to a scalable system for copper recovery; In turn, that copper is what powers the development of AI.

Endolith is currently running a pilot project in Arvada, Colorado.Dynamic Tech Media/Endolith

Our approach has already been validated by some of the world’s largest copper producers, including BHPMicrobial recovery is more hygienic. It measures. It optimizes. Our modular biohatcheries—field units designed to grow and distribute adapted microbes—can be deployed in a few days. They can be tailored to suit local conditions. They make it feasible to recover copper at deposits that were previously left untouched. This tool opens up access to a part of the supply chain that mining has overlooked and technology has rarely considered.

Copper shortage is slowing down AI

Conversations about AI infrastructure rarely address this layer. Computing costs and energy needs dominate the narrative, yet copper underpins the entire system.

Liz Dennett founded Endolith to recover much-needed copper from low-grade ore. Dynamic Tech Media/Endolith

The physical side of AI is often hidden from view. Its presence becomes evident when data center projects are delayed because transformers cannot be delivered in time, or when utilities cannot build transmission lines quickly enough to support new computing loads. These are copper problems, hiding in plain sight.

I’ve had calls with site engineers who are excited about deploying cutting-edge computing, but quietly concerned about whether the wiring can handle it. The infrastructure does not automatically follow as the software is ready. Copper is tied to geology and time. Mines run slowly, recycling runs very narrowly, and demand grows very rapidly. Better biological recovery is the lever we can pull today.

Skeptics say bioleaching has historically struggled with difficult ores. chalcopyriteProcesses were often slow, incomplete, or difficult to manage at scale. Recent advances in microbial science and heap engineering are closing those gaps. With AI guiding the adaptation of microbes, we can now match the right strains with the right ores, showing that biology can succeed where old methods fell short.

Often, technology assumes that the physical world will keep pace with ambition. But ambition alone can’t dig rock out of the ground—and it certainly can’t create copper. I see a difference between trust and infrastructure. We believe this future is coming, but the physical systems needed to support it are decades behind. If we want to build something sustainable, we need more than ambition and venture capital. We need metal, and we need smarter ways to get it out.

If we want to continue building, we must be clear about what we are building from. That means extraction, wiring and chemistry – the parts of the system that rarely make headlines but determine whether progress is possible.

The AI ​​era will not be sustained enthusiastically. This will be sustained by the copper. And the next leap forward in recovery may come from microbes… small, ancient, and alive.