Here’s what you should know today:

• COOLING, TECH, AND POWER:  Natron to 40x the nation’s sodium-ion batteries, new cooling hose hits the market, AMD merging architectures

• CAPITAL MARKETS: Amazon’s consumer AI acquisition, quantum computing makes a leap, Blackstone projects $3t dc market

• NEW PROJECTS: Sabey and TACC partner on supercomputer, another underwater data center coming to SF, DataBank announces another Dallas dc.

🤖 Cooling, Tech, and Power

Natron Plans to 40x the Nation’s Sodium-Ion Batteries

Natron Energy, a leading sodium-ion battery manufacturer, has announced plans to invest $1.4 billion in a new production facility in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. The new factory will span 1.2 million square feet and is expected to produce 14GW of sodium-ion batteries annually at full capacity, increasing the nation’s production by 40x.

Located at the Kingsboro CSX Select Megasite, the project follows the opening of their first commercial-scale sodium-ion battery facility in Michigan earlier in 2023.
“After evaluating over 70 sites across nine states, we found that North Carolina, with its leadership in the clean energy revolution, would make the perfect home for this project,” said co-CEO Collin Wessels

Sodium-ion batteries differ from lithium-ion technology in several ways, most notably in their use of sodium—a more abundant and less expensive material than lithium. This makes sodium-ion batteries potentially more sustainable and cost-effective.
The technology is also known for greater thermal stability and less susceptibility to overheating, which enhances safety. While they currently have lower energy density than lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion systems are emerging as a viable alternative for stationary energy storage and certain industrial applications (like data centers), due to their lower cost and better environmental profile.

Natron Energy claims its technology is unique to its competitors because it has no strain during charge and discharge, cycles 10 times faster than lithium-ion batteries, and lasts over 50,000 cycles. It is also the only UL-listed sodium-ion battery on the market.

"We expect our battery solutions will be used to power the explosive growth in data centers used for artificial intelligence," Wendell Brooks, co-CEO, said.

To learn more about sodium-ion technology, check out this breakdown by CNBC.

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💸 Capital Markets

• Amazon makes consumer AI acquisition: Amazon has acquired Perceive, an edge chip and AI model compression company, for $80 million in cash. Perceive's 44 employees are expected to join Amazon's Devices & Services division, to enhance Amazon's AI capabilities on end-user devices by integrating Perceive's Ergo AI processor for on-device AI inference.

• Unique startup raises millions to advance quantum computing: Quantum Circuits Inc., a Yale University spinout, has raised over $60 million in a Series B funding round led by ARCH Venture Partners, F-Prime Capital, and others.
  The company is developing a quantum computing platform with built-in error correction at the qubit level, allowing for more scalable and reliable quantum computers.
  "By putting the power of error detection and real-time control into the hands of algorithm developers, we will accelerate their ability to create new solutions and achieve better results needed for commercial applications," said CEO Ray Smets.

• Data center behemoth has a massive pipeline in development: Blackstone has announced over $70 billion in prospective data center pipeline development, alongside a current $55 billion portfolio that includes facilities under construction.
  CEO Stephen Schwarzman has projected $2 trillion in global capital expenditures for data center construction over the next five years, with a 40% increase in U.S. electricity demand. "Our portfolio today consists of $55bn of data centers, including facilities under construction, along with over $70bn in prospective pipeline development."

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