00:00Describe what you're cooking up over at SILA and, you know, how it sort of fits into the overall picture
00:06of batteries right now.
00:07Yeah, so at SILA, we work on next generation chemistry.
00:11We make the next generation anode for the lithium ion battery,
00:14which is a really key component that allows you to get more energy density, much higher power, faster recharge,
00:21and ultimately lower cost for battery technology everywhere.
00:25And that applies across electric vehicles, consumer devices, drone applications, even satellites.
00:32So we're really redefining the new chemistry that's going to change how all of these devices operate in the next
00:39five to ten years.
00:41And talk to us about, you know, what your supply chain looks like,
00:44because across industries that's become an increasingly urgent conversation really over the past five, six years or so,
00:51and certainly amplified by what we're seeing geopolitically.
00:54What does the situation look like from where you stand when you think about some of your technologies?
01:00So for anodes for lithium ion batteries, it's got one of the biggest concentrations of production in China, about over
01:0790 percent.
01:08And this is a problem for the whole industry.
01:10And by replacing that graphite anode that's there today with a silicon-based anode that we've invented,
01:16we're able to separate that supply chain.
01:19We're able to produce our technology here in the U.S.
01:21We just started up our gigafactory in central Washington in Moses Lake, Washington.
01:26So we're producing in the U.S.
01:27Most of our supply chain comes from the U.S.
01:29And we're able to help companies decouple their supply chain or at least reduce that risk.
01:35And so you're right.
01:36It's become really a fever-pitched moment.
01:39For some companies, it's really existential.
01:40If China were to cut off supply of graphite anodes, the same as they have done in the past with
01:46rare earth magnets,
01:47you would have massive consequences to the U.S. economy.
01:53By our own estimates, some maybe quarter million folks could be out of work downstream of that.
01:59And so SILA is able to help offset that and change that.
02:02Yeah, I was going to ask, I mean, how big of a risk is that out there,
02:07the idea that China could basically just really restrict access?
02:10As we've seen them go through, you make the good point about rare earths.
02:15It's a real risk.
02:16In October of last year, the laws were passed in China that allows them to exercise these export controls,
02:22not just on graphite anodes, but also on all the manufacturing equipment for graphite anodes.
02:27And they have such a lead in the industry that it would be very, very hard to replicate that industry
02:33here in the U.S. quickly.
02:35So the right way for the U.S. to go about this is really to invent the new thing, as
02:40we've done.
02:40We've invented the modern silicon anode.
02:42You can see the factory that we've completed.
02:44That's really just phase one of what will be ultimately at tens and hopefully over 100 gigawatt hours of production
02:52capacity in the coming years.
02:54And then not only to invent that technology here, but the blueprint for U.S. innovation has to be to
02:59manufacture it here,
03:01just the same as Tesla has done from inventing the modern EV, but also now making the most American-made
03:07cars in the U.S.
03:10And I do want to get your thoughts on Tesla's journey.
03:13As I mentioned, you were one of the earliest employees over at Tesla.
03:16You left over a decade ago, but even still curious to hear your perspective on where the company is in
03:22their own story,
03:23because they are a traditional car company.
03:26They're dealing with what you could say are traditional car company issues here when you think about, you know,
03:31the demand for EV and, you know, how they're going about pricing them.
03:35But then you think about all the ambitions that they have when it comes to AI, physical AI.
03:40And at the same time, they do have a bright spot when it comes to their energy storage business as
03:48well.
03:48And I wonder, you know, how you've been watching this sort of evolution of Tesla take place.
03:53I think they're really not a traditional car company at all.
03:58You know, today the story really is about AI.
04:01And obviously the narrative today is how do we get enough data centers built and enough stationary power to data
04:06centers
04:06in order for AI to have a positive impact on our economy?
04:10Fast forward a year from now, I think the conversation is going to be for AI to really have a
04:15great impact on society.
04:17You have to embody it in things out in the real world.
04:20We're talking about autonomous driving vehicles, right?
04:24Robo taxis, cyber cabs.
04:26You're talking about robotics.
04:27How do you increase productivity without needing more people?
04:31And so I think Tesla is really a physical AI company today.
04:35Everything they make is going to be kind of the next bottleneck once we get enough power to the data
04:43centers that we need.
04:44And AI starts to want to have an impact in the physical world.
04:47And by the way, you know, the company is also obviously helping those data centers get power through the Tesla
04:52energy business, which is booming today.
04:54So I think it's short-sighted to say, you know, a bad quarter, a bad earnings.
04:59The key is, are they building the physical AI layer that's going to be needed?
05:03And I think they're one of the leading companies in doing that.
05:06And before I let you go, Gene, I do want to talk a little bit more about you, about SELA,
05:10because you recently announced a $300 million raise here.
05:14And how do you plan to use that money?
05:17When you think about $300 million, where are you going to be putting that and investing that?
05:23It's really on expansion at this point.
05:25So we just earlier this year brought online the first gigawatt hour, first couple gigawatt hours of production of our
05:30technology.
05:31And so the next step was for us to move to tens of gigawatt hours.
05:34The U.S. this year will buy about 250 gigawatt hours worth of batteries.
05:40And ultimately, we'd like to, as a country, from an economic security, from a national security standpoint, be able to
05:47produce the key supply chain here in the U.S.
05:50So that's where our ambition is headed, towards hundreds of gigawatt hours.
05:53But this capital, this $300 million we just closed, will help us get going on the tens of gigawatt hours,
05:59phase two of our expansion.
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