Former Google CEO funds autonomous boats for Antarctic exploration
Eric Schmidt, the former CEO of Google, has announced funding for a project deploying autonomous boat drones to navigate the treacherous waters of Antarctica's Amundsen Sea. The initiative, in partnership with Saildrone, aims to map the seafloor and collect data on ocean currents amid climate change concerns. This effort builds on Schmidt's ongoing interest in ocean exploration.
Eric Schmidt, who served as Google's CEO from 2001 to 2011 and later as its executive chairman, is providing financial backing for an ambitious expedition into one of the planet's most inhospitable regions. The project involves deploying Saildrone's unmanned surface vehicles (USVs), also known as boat drones, to explore the Amundsen Sea in West Antarctica. This area is notorious for its extreme weather, massive icebergs, and towering waves that make traditional manned voyages nearly impossible.
Saildrone, a California-based company founded in 2012, specializes in these solar- and wind-powered autonomous vessels. The USVs are designed to operate for months at a time, equipped with sensors to measure ocean temperature, salinity, currents, and atmospheric conditions. For this mission, the drones will focus on mapping the seafloor, which remains largely uncharted in the Amundsen Sea, and studying how warming waters contribute to the melting of nearby ice shelves like the Thwaites Glacier, often called the 'Doomsday Glacier' due to its potential to accelerate global sea-level rise.
Schmidt's involvement stems from his Schmidt Ocean Institute, which he co-founded with his wife Wendy in 2009 to advance oceanographic research. The institute previously funded the research vessel Falkor, but this new project shifts toward unmanned technology to reduce risks and costs. 'The ocean covers 70% of our planet, yet we know less about its depths than the surface of the moon,' Schmidt said in a statement. 'Autonomous systems like Saildrone's will unlock critical data on climate change that we can't get any other way.'
The expedition is slated to launch in the coming years, with initial testing in less extreme waters to ensure the drones' reliability. Saildrone CEO Richard Jenkins emphasized the technology's robustness: 'Our vehicles have already sailed over 800,000 nautical miles across all oceans, including the Southern Ocean, proving they can handle the Antarctic's fury.' This collaboration could provide unprecedented insights into how Antarctic waters influence global climate patterns, informing efforts to mitigate rising sea levels that threaten coastal communities worldwide.
While the exact funding amount remains undisclosed, the project aligns with broader philanthropic trends in tech where former executives like Schmidt invest in environmental science. Critics note that such initiatives, though innovative, must prioritize data accessibility to benefit global researchers rather than proprietary interests.