Alums From Google's DeepMind Want to Bring AI Energy Controls to Industrial Giants

Industrial production is one of the dirtiest corners of the corporate world. A startup from former Google engineers thinks it can clean it up with artificial intelligence. Phaidra, a company based in Seattle, sells AI software to automate building controls for power plants and other industrial giants. For several years, DeepMind has let its AI system manage the temperature controls inside Google data centers, ultimately shaving huge chunks off the company's electricity bill. Phaidra's algorithms are designed to select the most efficient temperature for unique facilities, such as a steel mill or a vaccine manufacturer, and identify when equipment starts to lag in performance.