Tom Chi
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Articles by Tom Chi
I Build Robots That Restore Ecosystems. Here’s Why AI Is Being Used for the Opposite
As a founding team member of Google X with deep expertise in autonomous systems, I’m here to tell you why we’re choosing the wrong path for robotics—and what we can to to change course. As a founding team member of Google X, with expertise in autonomous systems—from self-driving cars to ecosystem restoration robots—I think it’s time to talk about the exponential curve that seems poised to have massive destructive potential: lethal autonomous weapons.
The Climate Argument That Sounds Reasonable—and Is Completely Wrong
A surprisingly common argument about climate change sounds completely reasonable—until you spot the massive category error making everyone dumber. Just over 40 years ago, in 1985, Carl Sagan stood before a congressional committee to explain the fundamental physics of planetary atmospheres. It was a landmark moment in science communication. In comparing the atmospheres of Venus, Earth, and Mars, he laid out the tremendous impact greenhouse gases have on planetary surface temperatures.
It’s time to bring back the Montreal Protocol principles
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. The last few years have been a wild ride for the carbon markets. Well implemented, they could be an incredible tool for rewarding the changes that will help us survive on this planet for the long haul. In their current state, though, it’s been a bit of a murky path, with many starts and stops. It’s clear we haven’t hit our stride and given all the effort to make these markets work, it’s worth asking why.
It’s time to bring back the Montreal Protocol principles
Welcome to EcoTopical Your daily eco-friendly green news aggregator. Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.
Why Denmark removed 40 percent of Greenland from the economy—and what it teaches us about modern capital
There are real costs to short-term optimizations, while set-asides offer a way to reap superior economic returns in the medium term. A useful rule of thumb is that when a problem persists for decades despite serious effort, the failure is usually not one of effort or intelligence, but of framing. Climate change sits squarely in this category. We have poured talent, capital, policy, and good intentions into solving it, and yet the core dynamics continue to worsen.
Why Denmark Removed 40 Percent of Greenland From the Economy—and What It Teaches Us About Modern Capital
There are real costs to short-term optimizations, while set-asides offer a way to reap superior economic returns in the medium term. A useful rule of thumb is that when a problem persists for decades despite serious effort, the failure is usually not one of effort or intelligence, but of framing. Climate change sits squarely in this category. We have poured talent, capital, policy, and good intentions into solving it, and yet the core dynamics continue to worsen.
The wrong way to finance a factory
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. One of the most daunting discussions in the climate world today is the valley of death that’s presented by First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) manufacturing risk. This typically surfaces when a company reaches a B or C funding round and needs $100-plus million to build its first production-scale plant that proves the full economic model.
The wrong way to finance a factory
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. One of the most daunting discussions in the climate world today is the valley of death that’s presented by First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) manufacturing risk. This typically surfaces when a company reaches a B or C funding round and needs $100-plus million to build its first production-scale plant that proves the full economic model.
The wrong way to finance a factory
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. One of the most daunting discussions in the climate world today is the valley of death that’s presented by First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) manufacturing risk. This typically surfaces when a company reaches a B or C funding round and needs $100-plus million to build its first production-scale plant that proves the full economic model.
The wrong way to finance a factory
Welcome to EcoTopical Your daily eco-friendly green news aggregator. Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.
Climate Capital by Tom Chi, Excerpt
Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future Tom Chi 320 pages, Wiley, 2026 Buy the book » The three big challenges of the 21st century are climate destabilization, economic reinvention, and geopolitical stability. Climate Capital: Investing in the Tools for a Regenerative Future aims to share tools to rise to these challenges and build a purposeful and regenerative future together.
The danger of putting a price on the planet
Welcome to EcoTopical Your daily eco-friendly green news aggregator. Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.
The danger of putting a price on the planet
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. I have a simple rule of thumb that if a problem lingers for a while even after many smart folks have tried to solve it, then there’s probably something wrong with the framing of the problem.
From cow burps to data centers, it’s been a year
Welcome to EcoTopical Your daily eco-friendly green news aggregator. Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.
From cow burps to data centers, it's been a year
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. As managing partner of At One Ventures, I get a unique and broad perspective at how the climate venture landscape is evolving. In 2025, we made progress but didn’t move in a straight line: some long-standing technical and economic constraints finally gave way, while other parts of the system showed how easily momentum can be disrupted by market demand, price volatility and policy swings.
From cow burps to data centers, it's been a year
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. As managing partner of At One Ventures, I get a unique and broad perspective at how the climate venture landscape is evolving. In 2025, we made progress but didn’t move in a straight line: some long-standing technical and economic constraints finally gave way, while other parts of the system showed how easily momentum can be disrupted by market demand, price volatility and policy swings.
The green manufacturing boom is happening. Just not in the U.S.
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. Manufacturing is in the headlines, both as a major goal of current U.S. policy and a point of competitive tension with China. It’s a surreal moment, which could be summarized as the world’s biggest consumer picking a fight with the world’s biggest producer.
The green manufacturing boom is happening. Just not in the U.S.
The opinions expressed here by Trellis expert contributors are their own, not those of Trellis. Manufacturing is in the headlines, both as a major goal of current U.S. policy and a point of competitive tension with China. It’s a surreal moment, which could be summarized as the world’s biggest consumer picking a fight with the world’s biggest producer.
The green manufacturing boom is happening. Just not here
Welcome to EcoTopical Your daily eco-friendly green news aggregator. Leaf through planet Earths environmental headlines in one convenient place. Read, share and discover the latest on ecology, science and green living from the web's most popular sites.
Tom Chi: The army of autonomous robots restoring nature
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Carbon Credits | Trellis
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Finance & Investing
Decarbonization Finance & Investing Nature Why businesses hold the key to financing forests of the future November 7, 2025
Dollar Donation Club
Priti Rao Senior Advisor, Dalberg “This is one of the most sustainable approaches to poverty alleviation. A small donation has a ripple effect beyond just one child, into a family and into a community.” Mridhula Sridharan Project Manager, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network; Former Associate, Dasra “Sarthak is a scrappy organization working with a vulnerable population.
The media is choosing shock over truth in climate change reporting
The media needs to trade shock and sensationalism for nuance and balance when reporting on climate change, writes Tom Chi. The way today's media reports on climate change is being viewed as a waste of human capital and hope – two of the most valuable resources needed to fight climate change.
Tom Chi on making ecological regeneration an imperative for tech
Tom Chi, a founding team member of Google X, talks about the opportunities for humanity to leverage technology and become a net positive to nature. On the mainstage of VERGE 19, he outlines how one can deploy the skills and capabilities of tech to actually create a verdant, healthy and vibrant world.
Stress Almost Killed Me — Then I Changed My Mind - UNREASONABLE
here was a point in my life when stress almost killed me, literally. This happened during what would have appeared to be a very “successful” period in my life. But it was also a very stressful time at work, and the way I handled that stress severely impacted my health — leading to an emergency wherein I lost 40 percent of my blood in 30 minutes and was just minutes from dying.
Make Your Business About Your Purpose-But Not Just About Purpose
I was first exposed to the conscious capitalism movement years ago. As the founder of a green ad agency, I was impressed by both the purpose of conscious capitalism—to redefine the narrative between business and society—and the illustrious members who championed the movement. Through conscious capitalism, I met Jeff Cherry of Conscious Venture Lab. The Lab (and accompanying Conscious Venture Fund) was designed to incubate and accelerate companies that embraced a larger purpose for business.
Why Entrepreneurs Need To Remain Humble (in fewer than 200 words) - UNREASONABLE
In a world filled with hubris and ego-maniacs, it is the humble leader that has the greatest influence. Read on to discover the true meaning of humility and why it’s so important to building a great organization. The author of this post, Seth Levine, is a Boulder, CO based technology investor and managing director at Foundry Group. This advice would seem obvious, if only more people followed it.
The Ultimate Guide to Building Your Pitch Deck
This post goes over the team, advisor, finance, and business model, and the ask slides of a pitch deck as well as design and flow tips. our pitch deck MUST start with a description of what it is that you’re doing. Your second slide (after the cover slide) is titled “What is NAME-OF-YOUR-COMPANY” (e.g. “What is eBay”). Explain in simple English what you’re doing.
Love of Learning is Key to Success in Jobless Future
Not long ago, schoolchildren chose what they wanted to be when they grew up, and later selected the best college they could gain admission to, spent years gaining proficiency in their fields, and joined a company that had a need for their skills. Careers lasted lifetimes. Advancing technologies will cause so much disruption to almost every industry that entire professions will disappear. Tweet This Quote Now, by my estimates, the half-life of a career is about 10 years.
The Veil of "Energy Poverty" -- Holding Corporations Accountable
It’s flattering to be asked to be a poster child for a major international campaign. The language was veiled but the implication clear: Would I help a big company undertake a campaign to end energy poverty? The client? Peabody Coal, the largest private-sector coal company in the world. I told the caller that I wanted nothing to do with his client or his campaign. The logic didn’t work. Yes, energy poverty is real, and no, coal is not an answer to it. I’ve been in the Central Highlands of Afghanistan.
Interview: What Is Design for Social Innovation?
This interview with Cheryl Heller was conducted by the Design for Social Innovation (DSI) program (taking applications now) and explores what it means to design for social change—a path Cheryl has dedicated her life to and writes about periodically. Design for social innovation is really interaction design in the broadest sense; it’s interaction between people that takes responsibility for positive, systemic impact.
Making the Girl Effect Real For Millions of Women
In 2014, Daniel Epstein, founder and CEO of the Unreasonable Group, sent me a message on Facebook to inform me that Zoona had been selected for the inaugural Girl Effect Accelerator. I was not familiar with the work of Unreasonable and had never heard of the Girl Effect. Zoona is a money transfer and payments startup in Zambia, so naturally the question in my mind was: What did we have to do with girls? As it turns out, a lot.
Dear President Obama, Don’t Be a Traditional Venture Capitalist
According to the press, Silicon Valley is “salivating” at the prospect of you becoming a VC. As you told Bloomberg News a few weeks ago, “The conversations I have with Silicon Valley and with venture capital pull together my interests in science and organization in a way I find really satisfying.” I’m sure you could do well following in the footsteps of Al Gore and Condoleezza Rice, joining a Sand Hill Road Silicon Valley firm.
Debunking a Myth: Why and How To Do Business With Friends
If I’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that you should only do business with friends: with people you trust, admire, enjoy being around, and with people who make you laugh. Of course, there are good ways and there are bad ways of going about working with friends. Below I’ve included four major things I’ve learned from trial and error about diving into working relationships and partnerships with those I consider to be my closest friends.
How Rate-Based Thinking Can Transform Your Goals Into Reality
Goal setting is huge in the world of entrepreneurship, but are we doing it entirely wrong? Most of us are used to setting goals around specific outcomes we’d like to achieve. We want our business to make $10 million next year. We want to learn a new language. We want to get 100,000 customers, etc. For obvious reasons, I call these ‘outcome-based’ goals.
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