Kate Duffy
KoBold’s CEO told Insider that a new partnership with BHP would hunt for metals used in EVs. The partnership could eventually source metals for Tesla vehicles, House said.
See more stories on Insider’s business page. An artificial intelligence startup backed by Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos has teamed up with the world’s second-largest mining group to hunt for metals used in electric vehicles.
KoBold Metals and BHP will together search for lithium, nickel, cobalt, and copper in Australia, KoBold CEO Kurt House told Insider in an interview.
KoBold and BHP’s three-year partnership could help to source the nickel that gets used in Tesla vehicles, House said.
In July, BHP signed a deal with Tesla to provide nickel for the carmaker’s electric batteries.
“It could very well be that if we make nickel and cobalt discoveries together, those supplies will end up being a part of that agreement,” House said. “We could easily contribute to it in the future.
“Tesla is awesome. No question about it. They’re the market leader in electric vehicles,” House said, adding that KoBold’s goal was to help the entire electric vehicle (EV) industry.
KoBold, a privately-owned mineral exploration company based in Silicon Valley, uses artificial intelligence to collect data on where to drill for raw materials used in EVs. House didn’t give an exact figure for how much the companies were likely to spend on the project, but said they’ll be shelling out tens of millions of dollars over the next two years.—Agencies
