What happens when a Silicon Valley deep tech leader decides to fix the planet?
Ryan sits down with Tom Chi, founder of At One Ventures and former leader at Google X. He shares his journey from early work in astrophysics, robotics, and AI, including projects connected to Waymo and Google Brain, to witnessing a coral reef near his home in Hawaii collapse in just weeks.
What happens when a Silicon Valley deep tech leader decides to fix the planet? Ryan sits down with Tom Chi, founder of At One Ventures and former leader at Google X. He shares his journey from early work in astrophysics, robotics, and AI, including projects connected to Waymo and Google Brain, to witnessing a coral reef near his home in Hawaii collapse in just weeks. That moment changed everything and pushed him to leave big tech and focus fully on solving planetary-scale problems. Tom explains why modern AI systems still operate like “black boxes,” how physics provides a clear framework for evaluating breakthrough technologies, and why venture capital can be a powerful lever to tackle dozens of high-impact industries at once.
Through At One Ventures, he backs deep tech companies that improve both unit economics and environmental outcomes, from methane-reducing cattle additives to next-generation energy storage and lower-cost, factory-built housing. If you're interested in deep tech, AI, climate innovation, and building real-world solutions that scale, this episode breaks down how economics and ecology can align and why the future will be built by builders, not talkers.