Amazon, Orbital, Amazon Data Center, Data Centres, Orbital, Advanced Materials, AI-Led Material Innovation, AI, Artificial Intelligence, 2025

Amazon has recently forged a new partnership with Orbital Materials to disrupt the Carbon Capture Technology space. This groundbreaking multi-year partnership was announced at the AWS Re: Invent on December 2, 2024. The collaboration aims to disrupt data center sustainability by developing technologies for carbon removal and enhancing operational efficiency. This marks a significant stride towards addressing and mitigating the environmental risks posed by data centers. Data Centers are infamous for their substantial energy consumption and carbon emissions.

The Long-Term Vision:

This partnership between Amazon and Orbital depicts a shared vision focused on creating sustainable data centers. The global demand for cloud services is estimated to compound from USD 626.4 billion(2023) to USD 1,266.4 billion by 2028 at a CAGR of 15% during the forecast period(Markets & Markets 2022). As the adoption and demand continue to grow exponentially, energy-efficient and sustainable solutions become more imperative. This deal is crucial and builds synergies with Amazon Web Services'(AWS) goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. AWS aims to accelerate the development of such “carbon capture of data centers” technologies by leveraging Orbital’s AI-driven material discovery platform.

Orbital Materials-Disruptor in AI-Led Innovation:

Orbital Materials, founded in 2022, has already created ripples owing to its disruptive capabilities of integrating AI into materials science. The organization utilizes its proprietary AI platform to design, synthesize, and create advanced materials, aimed at enabling the long-term habitability of the planet(source: orbitalmaterials.com). Traditional methods of material development processes, often involve longer lead time owing to multiple rounds of trials and errors. Orbital’s novel technology uses its Generative AI design capabilities to replace trial and error with rational design, enabling an accelerated discovery-to-deployment cycle.

Key Technological Aspects:

The key aspects of the partnership are:

  • Carbon Removal Technologies:

Orbital aims to develop material, that can capture the emitted carbon dioxide at a higher rate than the electricity they consume.

  • Cooling Systems:

Data centers release significant heat, requiring effective cooling solutions. This collaboration seeks to develop a novel and innovative cooling technology, that can integrate with the carbon capture technology.  

  • Utilization of Water:

Efficient Water management is critical for effective data center operations. This partnership also aims to innovate efficient water utilization technologies alongside carbon capture technology.

Implementation Timeline:

The initial phase of this partnership will involve deploying Orbital’s carbon removal technology at an AWS data center by the end of 2025. This pilot program will evaluate the scalability and effectiveness of these new materials in real-world scenarios. AWS will provide its extensive cloud infrastructure to support Orbital’s research and development efforts.

Orbital’s AI model, known as “Orb“, will be available on the AWS platforms for AWS customers via Amazon Sagemaker JumpStart and AWS Marketplace. It is the first AI-for-materials model to be available on AWS. It enables customers, access to cutting-edge AI tools for material research across various fields, including semiconductors and batteries.  

Focus on Sustainability:

Amazon and Orbital’s partnership portrays a growing trend among technology companies to focus on and, prioritize sustainability in their operations. By integrating advanced material science with cloud computing technology, Amazon has created a benchmark in the tech industry. This collaboration also addresses the Scope-3 emissions – indirect emissions from a firm’s value chain.

 

The partnership between Amazon and Orbital represents a pivotal moment for vindicating sustainability in the technology sector. By harnessing AI to drive carbon capture capabilities, this development sets an unparalleled precedent for fostering innovations toward achieving net-zero emissions across multiple sectors.