Energy, AI, and the Next Era of Climate Impact | Bloomberg Zero

On Bloomberg’s Zero: The Climate Race podcast, Mike “Schrep” Schroepfer, Founding Partner of Gigascale Capital, explores how deep tech for climate impact is entering a new era driven by energy access, AI, and cost-down tailwinds. From batteries to fusion, he argues that abundant, low-cost energy is moving from thesis to an enabler that will make possible other interventions for climate impact.

Listen to this conversation with Microsoft CTO, Kevin Scott, on Behind the Tech, to learn more about Schrep’s journey from Meta to Gigascale, and how it shaped this conviction.

Conversation Highlights

• A Return to Fundamentals: After the 2021 climate tech hype cycle, Schrep sees a more disciplined environment that favors founders with products that are better, faster, cheaper, and that people want. “We have more time to understand the technology, dig into the economics, and get to know the founders,” he says. “And companies still have oversubscribed rounds.”
• Energy Access as Advantage: For decades, U.S. demand barely changed. Now, “Every data center, EV fleet, heat pump is competing for the same electrons,” Schrep explains. This marks a new era for energy. “If I don’t have access, I can’t build the computing power or data services I need.” At Gigascale, we believe that market pull can accelerate the advancement of cheaper, cleaner energy solutions and enable the scaling of more deep-tech climate solutions.
• Breakout Deep Tech Drives Impact: Markets leap forward through breakthroughs. “Where would we be in EVs without Tesla? In space without SpaceX?” Schrep asks. “We don’t need ten of these companies. Just a couple can change the trajectory.”
• AI that Accelerates Building in the Physical World: “If you made me choose, the two things I’m obsessed with are energy and AI for acceleration of atoms.” Schrep highlights how AI speeds up innovation in the physical economy by reducing testing cycles, automating manufacturing, and optimizing supply chains. “We need to build more and much faster,” he says. “AI can help get from idea to production in months instead of years.”

We need to build a lot of stuff. The question is, how do we do it faster?

Key Takeaways

• Energy has become a competitive advantage that determines who can scale, with the potential to pull forward new clean energy solutions.
• Cost curves create tailwinds that founders can build into to accelerate their economics.
• A few companies can reset the world’s trajectory. Gigascale invests in those leverage points.
• AI can accelerate atoms and speed up physical innovation and deployment.

Listen to the Full Conversation