EarthHouse Global Brief - 10/10/25
Welcome to the first week of EarthHouse’s Global Brief. Each week, we explore the global movements shaping the future of Critical Minerals, Mobility, and Modern Power. From cross-border mineral deals to AI-driven industrial strategies, the pace of global transformation is accelerating.
Partner Updates | Building Strategic Alliances
US Strategic Metals
U.S. Strategic Metals announced a Memorandum of Understanding with Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization to jointly explore and process critical minerals—including tungsten, rare earth elements, cobalt, lithium, and platinum group metals—vital for defense, energy, and industrial applications. The partnership aims to strengthen U.S. supply chain independence by combining FWO’s mining and exploration expertise with USSM’s advanced processing capabilities.
LVC Holdings
LVC Global Holdings signed a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Norway-based Accelerate Capital AS to identify and develop opportunities across the critical minerals and energy transition value chain. The partnership combines LVC’s expertise in asset optimization and monetization with Accelerate Capital’s focus on climate technology and blended finance solutions, positioning both firms to advance sustainable industrial and energy development across Africa and global markets.
Find out more here.
Silverado Policy Accelerator’s
Silverado Policy Accelerator’s Mahnaz Khan spoke at the Cobalt Institute’s Critical Minerals Roundtable in New York during UNGA Week, emphasizing Africa’s role in building transparent, standards-based mineral economies. She underscored the need for framework alignment between G7 and regional initiatives and highlighted findings from Silverado’s July 2025 report showing China’s 69% control of DRC cobalt assets and Indonesia’s rapid rise as a global producer through its nickel sector.
Technology & Minerals | The New Industrial Frontier
Quantum Sensing & Future Warfare
Quantum sensing is approaching fieldable capability and threatens to undercut the survivability advantages of submarines, stealth aircraft, and GPS-denied operations. CSIS reports the United States must adopt five urgent reforms: a unified national strategy, coordinated and sustained R&D and procurement, accelerated ruggedization and operational trials, industrial policy to secure critical materials and scale manufacturing, and deeper allied integration of sensing and communications so quantum functions as a force multiplier rather than a vulnerability. With China and Russia already testing operational systems, CSIS warns there is a narrowing window to act before adversaries erase longstanding U.S. advantages.
Read the full report here.
AMD, OpenAI Announce Massive AI-Chip Deal
OpenAI and Advanced Micro Devices announced a multibillion-dollar partnership to develop AI data centers powered by AMD’s upcoming MI450 chips, directly challenging Nvidia’s dominance in the AI hardware market. The deal includes OpenAI purchasing roughly 6 gigawatts of AMD chips and receiving warrants for up to 160 million AMD shares, potentially generating tens of billions in revenue for AMD and driving a sharp surge in its stock value.
Read the full article here.
US Magnet Start-up Targets China’s Grip on Rare Earths
Niron Magnetics, backed by $150 million from Stellantis, General Motors, and others, is developing rare‐earth-free magnets made from iron nitride in a 1,500-tonne plant in Sartell, Minnesota, aiming to meet about 3% of U.S. demand by 2027. Their new technology, derived from University of Minnesota research, is claimed to outperform current magnets by 18%, offering a path for the U.S. to reduce reliance on China’s dominance in critical mineral supply chains.
Read the full article here.
Trump Approves Alaska Mining Road
President Trump has approved a 211-mile Ambler Road through wilderness in Alaska to enable mining of copper, cobalt, gold, and other critical minerals - including a copper deposit valued at over $7 billion. In a parallel move, the U.S. took a 5% equity stake in Lithium Americas and a 5% stake in its Thacker Pass lithium project (joint with GM), as part of a broader push to onshore supply chains for strategic minerals.
Read the full article here.
Mobility & Materials | The Energy Transition in Motion
JB Straubel’s Redwood Chases EV Battery Future Amid A.I. Energy
JB Straubel’s Redwood Materials is scaling to become the world’s leading EV battery recycling and materials company, already processing 20 GWh of batteries per year and building a $3.5 billion circular-manufacturing campus in Ridgeville, South Carolina. To address AI’s escalating electricity demand, Redwood launched Redwood Energy, striking a deal with Crusoe to power a Texas data center via a 63 MWh microgrid, while also forging agreements with GM to deploy second-life batteries for energy storage.
Read the full article here.
Energy & Policy | Powering the Next Decade
Groups Challenge EPA for Pulling $7 Billion in Solar Grants
A coalition of solar companies, labor unions, nonprofits, and homeowners filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency for canceling the $7 billion “Solar for All” program, which aimed to fund rooftop solar projects for low- and middle-income households. Plaintiffs argue the EPA exceeded its authority by withdrawing funds that had already been awarded by congress for thousands of clean energy jobs and planned installations nationwide.
Read the full article here.
Data Centers and Energy Proposal Sought for Federal Sights
The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration have issued Requests for Proposals to build and power AI data centers at the Savannah River Site and Oak Ridge Reservation, seeking private partners to integrate energy generation and storage with computing infrastructure. The solicitations require bidders to cover construction, operations, decommissioning, and utility interconnections, and proposals will be judged on technical readiness, financial viability, and permitting strategies.
Read the full article here.
IEA Cuts U.S. Renewable Energy Growth Outlook on Trump Policies
The International Energy Agency has sharply cut its U.S. renewable capacity forecast for this decade, from around 500 GW down to 250 GW, citing the Trump administration’s rollback of incentives, restrictions on offshore wind leasing, and tightened permitting. The IEA says U.S. renewables additions will likely peak by 2027 and rely increasingly on state programs and corporate deals rather than federal support.
Read the full article here.
Markets & Momentum | Signals from the Front Lines
Plug Power’s stock
Plug Power’s stock has nearly tripled in a month as investors latch onto its perceived role in the AI-driven energy landscape, viewing green hydrogen as a key enabler of future data-center power needs. Analyst Amit Dayal raised his price target to $7, citing rising electricity prices and synergies between hydrogen and small modular reactors, while noting the stock’s heavy short interest (32.5%) could fuel further momentum.
Read the full article here.
Gold
Gold futures cleared $4,000 per troy ounce for the first time, driven by a rush to safety amid the U.S. government shutdown and broader macroeconomic uncertainty.
Read the full article here.
Global Reflection | Competing for the Future
As technology, energy, and geopolitics converge, the defining challenge of this decade is aligning innovation with resilience. The pursuit of cleaner grids, faster chips, and smarter infrastructure is now a test of will — balancing growth with security. China’s expanding influence across technology and resource markets underscores a central truth: the frontier of innovation is also the frontier of competition.
As we look ahead to EarthHouse Forum 2025 in Los Angeles, part of LA Tech Week, sponsored by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), these stories shape the conversation: how nations and innovators can collaborate to build resilient systems that secure prosperity in an age of accelerating change.
Together, we will continue to navigate the complex intersections of industry, policy, and innovation to define the next era of growth.
To learn more & register, click here.
Events & Engagement | Spotlight Events
The Critical Minerals Forum | New York, October 16
Hosted at Clifford Chance’s Manhattan offices, the Critical Minerals Forum will examine North America’s leadership in securing resilient supply chains for critical minerals and rare earths. As Western nations confront China’s processing dominance, this dialogue will unite industry, policy, and finance leaders to chart pathways toward energy security, advanced manufacturing, and technological competitiveness.
To learn more & register, click here.
U.S.–Africa Critical Minerals Forum | Washington, D.C., October 15
Convened by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce alongside the IMF and World Bank Meetings, this high-level forum spotlights Africa’s pivotal role in the global minerals economy. Featuring Colonel C. Derek Campbell, Executive Chairman of LVC Global Holdings, the event will unveil the U.S.–Africa Critical Minerals White Paper and explore frameworks to unlock investment and strengthen transatlantic partnerships.
Learn more here.
For inquiries or connections: connect@earthhouseforum.com | EarthHouse Website
Written by Woods Hobbs