AI-Designed Materials to Cool and Decarbonize Data Centers with Orbital
from Inevitable Hosted by Jonathan Godwin, Cody Simms
Jonathan Godwin is co-founder and CEO of Orbital Materials, an AI-first materials-engineering start-up. The company open-sourced Orb, a state-of-the-art simulation model, and now designs bespoke porous materials—its first aimed at cooling data-centres while capturing CO₂ or water. Jonathan shares how his DeepMind background shaped Orbital’s “design-before-experiment” approach, why the team chose data-center sustainability as a beachhead market, and what it takes to build a vertically integrated, AI-native industrial company. The conversation explores the future of faster, cheaper R&D, the role of advanced materials in decarbonization, and the leap from software to physical products. In this episode, we cover: [02:12] Johnny’s path from DeepMind to materials start-up [04:02] Trial-and-error vs AI-driven design shift [06:40] University/industry dynamics in materials R&D [10:17] Generative agent plus simulation for rapid discovery [13:01] Mitigating hallucinations with virtual experiments [18:18] Choosing a “hero” product and vertical integration [25:43] Dual-use chiller for cooling and CO₂ or water capture [32:26] Partnering on manufacturing to stay asset-light [35:58] Building an AI-native industrial giant of the future [36:51]: Orbital’s investors Episode recorded on April 30, 2025 (Published on May 27, 2025) Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected]. Connect with Override: Cody Simms on LinkedIn Visit ovr.vc Subscribe to the Override Newsletter *Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant
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Jonathan Godwin is co-founder and CEO of Orbital Materials, an AI-first materials-engineering start-up. The company open-sourced Orb, a state-of-the-art simulation model, and now designs bespoke porous materials—its first aimed at cooling data-centres while capturing CO₂ or water. Jonathan shares how his DeepMind background shaped Orbital’s “design-before-experiment” approach, why the team chose data-center sustainability as a beachhead market, and what it takes to build a vertically integrated, AI-native industrial company. The conversation explores the future of faster, cheaper R&D, the role of advanced materials in decarbonization, and the leap from software to physical products.
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