Giraffe Bio aims its bespoke biomolecules at the looming copper shortage

Between the AI data center boom and economy-wide electrification, the world will need a lot more copper. By 2040, copper supplies could fall 25% short of demand.

That’ll be a tall order for the mining industry, which boosts production mostly by opening new mines, which is a costly, luck-driven endeavor. Typically, just 0.3% of prospective mines pan out.

A new wave of critical minerals startups have been working on new ways to squeeze more copper out of existing mines using…