Scaling Laws Facts & Myths About AI's Energy Usage with Gavin McCormick
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Apr 24, 2026 
Gavin McCormick, founder of ClimateTrace and co-founder of WattTime, is an environmental technologist using satellites and ML to map greenhouse gas sources. He discusses using AI and imagery to make emissions transparent. He contrasts power use with pollution, explains how data drives regulation and market pressure, and describes building a global, collaborative emissions-monitoring coalition.
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Weekend Project Turned Public Grid Transparency
- Gavin and colleagues built a zero-budget nonprofit to publish research that shows when electricity use is cleaner or dirtier.
- They made time-of-use grid emissions public so people could schedule batteries, dishwashers, or EV charging to actually reduce pollution.
Measure First Then Regulate For Real Outcomes
- Scientific consensus exists on how time-of-use electricity affects emissions; measuring it enables outcome-based policy.
- California convened stakeholders and used data to decide which storage projects actually lower emissions before awarding subsidies.
Grant Pitch To Google Sparked Climate TRACE
- Gavin wrote a grant proposal to use satellites and ML to monitor global power plants and unexpectedly won Google.org funding.
- That grant seeded Climate TRACE, which became a free global emissions database supported by nonprofits and universities.