Work began on a $2.3 billion copper mine in Zambia backed by tech billionaires, including Bill Gates and Sam Altman.

The Mingomba mine will be among the largest copper mines in the world and will eventually produce 300,000 tons of copper a year.

AI is involved in every level of the project: The demand for copper is being driven up by data center construction and the need to diversify global supply chains away from China.

KoBold, the Silicon Valley-based company that will run Mingomba, used AI to help find a previously unknown concentrated copper ore deposit on the site. The lode is more than a mile underground, and the area is prone to flooding, making the project challenging.