What if artificial intelligence helped invent better batteries—and the batteries powered more artificial intelligence?

One technology could help strengthen the infrastructure that enables its own next generation: a powerful feedback loop, if real-world engineering delivers.

Imagine a world where artificial intelligence helps scientists discover better materials for batteries. Those batteries could make solar and wind power more useful by saving electricity for the hours when people need it most. More dependable electricity could, in turn, help power the large computing systems used for further scientific discoveries. One technology would be helping improve another, which would then create the conditions for still more progress. This is the fascinating possibility behind the connection between computing and energy. It is not a self-running miracle: new materials must be manufactured affordably, batteries must be installed, and power networks must be capable of using them.