As AI Spurs Copper Demand, Microbes Offer a Solution

The internet's next existential crisis won't be disinformation or deepfakes. This will be copper.

The world creates AI as it is Mining craftstyling data centerspower lines and cooling systems, with no regard for the physical constraints beneath them. Everyone is focused on models and calculations, but few are aware of the metal that makes them work.

Every element of modern electrical infrastructure, not just artificial intelligence, depends on copper. AI data centers they simply accelerate demand. A single hyperscale facility may require tens of thousands of tons of copper. For example, one Microsoft data center more than 2000 tons usedor 27 tons per megawatt. A McKinsey The report projects that overall power transmission development could increase annual global copper demand by about 37 million tons by 2031.

Available copper is running out. More than 70 percent of the world's reserves are concentrated in ores that traditional mining companies struggle to effectively process. Tens of billions of tons lie idle in dumps and low-value deposits, ignored by industry but still rich in potential.

It was this potential that attracted me here. As a geoscientist who later worked in energy and cloud infrastructure, I saw first-hand the growing need for copper and knew I had the knowledge to help solve the problem. In 2023 I founded a startup called Endolite recover copper from these forgotten sources. A tool is not a drill or dynamite. His microbes.

How microbial mining works

These microbes have evolved naturally, can be used in the field and are very effective in copper recovery from complex ores such as chalcopyrite and enargite. They excel at leaching piles in real conditions, working with real clients. And bonus: they use less energy, produce more copper, and have a lower environmental impact than traditional methods.

And what are these traditional methods? Typically, mines extract copper from ores by crushing the rock, concentrating the ore, and then using high-temperature smelting or chemical leaching with strong acids. Both approaches are energy intensive, release copper slowly, and leave behind large amounts of waste and emissions.

Endolith researchers use machine learning to determine which microbes to place in a given area and how to adjust the mixture over time. Dynamic Tech Media/Endolyte

On the contrary, our “microbial minions” work by speeding up the natural process bioleaching. Instead of relying on smelting or harsh acids, Endolite microbes attach to the ore and draw out the copper faster. They adapt to the chemistry of different rock types, extract more metal, and do so with less energy consumption and less environmental impact.

To make this possible, we rely on machine learning. Genomic and metabolic data from thousands of microbes are modeled to predict which strains can survive extreme ores such as chalcopyrite or enargite, and how they will behave under different environmental conditions. These models determine which microbial communities are deployed, how they are configured at each site, and how they adapt over time. Essentially, AI is what transforms biology from trial and error into a scalable copper recovery system; in turn, this copper is the driving force behind the growth of AI itself.

Endolith is currently running a pilot project in Arvada, Colorado.Dynamic Tech Media/Endolyte

Our approach has already been validated by some of the world's largest copper producers. including BHP. Microbiological recovery is cleaner. It scales. It adapts. Our modular bioincubators—field installations designed to grow and deliver tailored microbes—can be deployed in a matter of days. They can be adjusted to suit local conditions. They make it possible to extract copper from deposits that were previously left untouched. This tool provides access to part supply chain something that the mining industry overlooks and technology rarely takes into account.

Copper crisis slows down AI

Conversations about AI infrastructure rarely address this level. Compute costs and energy requirements dominate the narrative, but copper underpins the entire system.

Liz Dennett founded Endolith to extract much-needed copper from low-grade ore. Dynamic Tech Media/Endolyte

The physical side of AI is often hidden from view. Its presence becomes apparent when a data center project is delayed because a transformer cannot be delivered, or when utilities cannot build transmission lines quickly enough to support new computing loads. These are copper problems hiding in plain sight.

I've had calls from on-site engineers who are excited to implement the latest computing, but are secretly worried about whether the wiring can handle it. The infrastructure does not follow automatically because the software is already ready. Copper connected geology and time. The mines move slowly recycling moves too narrowly and demand changes too quickly. Intelligent biological restoration is the lever we can use today.

Skeptics point out that bioleaching has historically struggled with hard ores such as chalcopyrite. Processes were often slow, incomplete, or difficult to manage at scale. Recent advances in microbiology and heap engineering are closing these gaps. With artificial intelligence driving microbial optimization, we can now match the right strains to the right ores, showing that biology can succeed where old methods failed.

Too often technology assumes that the material world will keep pace with ambition. But ambition alone cannot dig stone out of the ground—and it certainly cannot create copper. I see a gap between faith and infrastructure. We believe this future is coming, but the physical systems needed to support it are decades behind. If we want to build something that lasts, we need more than ambition and venture capital. We need metal, and we need smarter ways to extract it.

If we want to continue to build, we need to be clear about what we are building from. That means extraction, connection and chemistry—the parts of the system that rarely make headlines but determine whether progress is possible.

The era of artificial intelligence will not be sustained by excitement. It will be supported by copper. And the next leap in recovery may come from microbes… tiny, ancient and alive.