Tech giants back new data center climate initiative

Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Meta are teaming up with a nonprofit investor to accelerate new technologies using data centers as test cases. The initiative, led by Elemental Impact, is among the clearest attempts yet to turn the massive buildout of AI infrastructure into a proving ground for new technologies rather than just a new source of emissions. Those technologies include advanced cooling, energy storage and low-carbon building materials. "We see data centers as really important customers for entrepreneurs to commercialize technologies that we've been working on for a long time," said Dawn Lippert, CEO and founder of Elemental Impact, the nonprofit investment firm spearheading the initiative.