Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates are among the backers of a mining and AI start-up which could help the west rival China.
The Silicon Valley-based business has raised a huge $537 million during its latest round of funding and has since been valued at a huge $2.96 billion.
The company, called KoBold Metals, boasts investments from Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as well as the world’s largest mining group, BHP.
It’s set to compete with China to produce important metals including copper, lithium and nickel.
These metals are vital components in electric car batteries – which China is the world’s top exporter of.
KoBold Metals could help the west become less dependent on the country for its material exports, something governments have long called for.
Although incoming president Donald Trump previously vowed to ‘rollback’ Biden’s EV policies, Kurt House – KoBold’s co-founder and chief executive – said he was ‘confident that there was broad political support in the US for improving access to critical minerals.’
House said there is ‘very broad bipartisan support for diversifying [the] supply of critical minerals’ because this is a ‘national security priority.’
“We’ve had plenty of conversations with people who will be associated with the next administration who are very enthusiastic about KoBold’s mission,” he added.
The company uses OpenAI’s generative AI technology alongside more ‘traditional’ AI to comb through data and identify undiscovered mineral deposits.
Carmichael Roberts, managing partner at Breakthrough Energy Ventures, said KoBold’s AI-driven approach is creating ‘a more secure, affordable, and clean energy future for all.’
In February, the company said it found an ‘extraordinary’ deposit of copper in Zambia, which KoBold president Josh Goldman said was ‘going to be one of the highest grade, large underground mines.’
Some 300,000 tons of copper could be produced from the site in Mingomba each year from the 2030s, KoBold said.
As of January 2025, one ton of copper is worth $8,652.50, according to Marker Insider.
That means KoBold’s Mingomba mining project alone could bring in a huge $2.6 billion per year.
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Copper is used as a conductor of heat and electricity, as well as for building material and in metal alloys for electrical wiring.
KoBold is also likely go public ‘within three to five years,’ co-founder House said.
Next, the company is focusing on ‘aggressively’ expanding its team of data scientists, with its sights set on those who have a more ‘traditional technology background’.
