AI-Designed Materials to Cool and Decarbonize Data Centers with Orbital

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)

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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant