The conversations around<\/span> AI and sustainability have centered around two fronts, according to Lorenzo Thione, a managing director at Gaingels.<\/p>\n

On the one hand, AI\u2019s capabilities have grown rapidly, giving rise to new products and technologies that require enormous amounts of computational power and resources. That\u2019s not quite sustainable.<\/p>\n

But on the other hand, these advancements in AI and machine learning tech have widened the avenue for creating more architectures to sustain AI development. That, per Thione, is going to herald innovation.<\/p>\n

Thione, like everyone these days, has lots of things to say about AI. However, he\u2019s been in the game much longer than most people, having sold his AI-web company, Powerset, to Microsoft in 2009. Then he became an investor and has since become known for his work with Gaingels, a venture capital syndicate where he leads the AI and sustainability investments.<\/p>\n

The syndicate, which has nearly $750 million deployed, focuses on backing founders who identify as part of the LGBTQ+ community. As a gay man, Thione remembers a time when founders used to be nervous about being open and out with investors, or worried about how they presented themselves. \u201cThey simply were not getting any access to the venture engine because of who they were,\u201d he told TechCrunch+.<\/p>\n