Active World-Building: Wendy Schmidt insists science and immersive media can inspire action for our planet

Using resources to turn "magical" technologies of tomorrow—AI, robotics, and VR—into practical tools for saving the world today

Feb 08, 2026

I met Wendy Schmidt after her panel on Rewriting the Rules of Global Conservation at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

I learned that Wendy’s initiatives can be framed not merely as philanthropy, but as active “world-building” — using advanced technology to explore alien frontiers on Earth, deploying autonomous sentinel networks, and harnessing immersive realities to shift human consciousness.

Schmidt’s Antarctic Drone Boats: A New Frontier in Climate Science

Philanthropists Eric and Wendy Schmidt fund global initiatives to solve environmental crises. Their work includes ocean conservation via the Schmidt Ocean Institute, sustainable research through autonomous drones, and transformative technology grants for science and equity.

“To gaze into either space or the ocean is to look into the past. In space, we see light that left its source long ago. In the deep sea, we can see creatures that have walked—or swam, or crawled or simply sat on—the Earth for hundreds of millions of years.
The Ocean is so much more than it appears from the surface. For billions of people around the world, it is a source of livelihood and sustenance. It is where life on our planet began, where carbon is held so our planet’s temperature can stay in balance, where oxygen is cycled into the air for us to breathe.

The ocean is the cornerstone, the blue heart of our life support system. It’s been stable for millions of years and yet, in my lifetime, the Ocean has been under attack. Overfishing has upset the balance of species. Industrial pollution has not only harmed Ocean life—leaching microplastics and other toxins into the deepest and most distant corners of the sea as well as into our seafood supply—but also inhibited the Ocean’s ability to balance planetary temperature.
In our era of climate change, we know, as members of the sailing community, how the seasons are shifting, storms are growing more erratic and extreme, and how sea level rise is threatening many coastal and island regions.”

Exploring the “Alien” Frontier: The Falkor (too) and SuBastian

For fans of The Abyss or Star Trek, Schmidt’s work with the Schmidt Ocean Institute represents the ultimate voyage into the unknown. Recognizing that 95% of the ocean remains unexplored, Schmidt treats the deep sea as a planetary final frontier.

The Mothership

The centerpiece is the Falkor (too), a 110-meter state-of-the-art research vessel. It functions like a sci-fi exploration hub, equipped with a 105-square-meter main lab, high-resolution mapping tech, and moonpools (openings in the hull) to launch deep-sea vehicles. It is offered free of charge to scientists worldwide, democratizing access to the deep in a “Starfleet-esque” mission of peaceful discovery.

The Avatar

The vessel deploys an ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) named SuBastian — explicitly named after the character from the fantasy classic The NeverEnding Story. SuBastian is a 4,500-meter-rated robot with “squishy fingers” capable of delicate sampling.

Discovering Origins

The institute searches for “lost city vents” — limestone towers that may hold the chemical secrets to the origins of life, effectively looking for the “genesis code” of the planet.

In a moment of pure eco-horror/wonder, SuBastian recently flipped over volcanic crust to reveal entirely new ecosystems living underneath the sea floor, proving life exists in “boiling sulfuric chemistry”.

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“It was sailing that inspired me to pursue ocean health through philanthropy, whether exploring the deep sea with Schmidt Ocean Institute or working with 11th Hour Racing to advance sustainability in the sailing and maritime communities.

Two years ago, after our team won the world’s largest sailing race, the Barcolana 54, we provided the Marine Biodiversity Center in Trieste, Italy—home of the Barcolana—with a grant that helped visitors better understand the importance of the gulf and its 74-acre Miramare Marine Protected Area.

And this year, we returned to Trieste with our Deep Blue Exploration Zone, an immersive exhibit spotlighting ocean research and health, bridging the excitement of the race that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators and competitors to the urgent need to protect our Ocean.

The Ocean is essential to human health, to the very air we breathe. How we live on land–from the energy sources we consume, to the materials we use, to how we manage our food systems and waste–has direct impacts on the Ocean. We can do better.”

The Sentinel Network: Autonomous Antarctic Drones

In a move reminiscent of deploying a planetary defense grid, Schmidt Sciences is funding a fleet of autonomous drone boats to patrol the Southern Ocean—one of the most hostile environments on Earth.

AI Navigators

These uncrewed surface vessels utilize AI-driven navigation to autonomously evade ice floes and survive punishing waves and sub-zero temperatures for months without human intervention.

Planetary Life Support

The mission is to monitor the “lungs” of the planet. The Southern Ocean absorbs 40% of human-emitted CO2. These drones are collecting data to refine the global climate models that determine our species’ survival, filling critical gaps that traditional ships cannot reach. It is essentially a high-tech “early warning system” for planetary habitability.

The “Holodeck” for Empathy: Agog and XR

Schmidt is tackling the “empathy deficit” regarding climate change by utilizing Extended Reality (XR), a concept familiar to cyberpunk and ready-player-one enthusiasts.

Agog: Institute

Schmidt launched Agog to use immersive media to create a “sense of wonder” rather than escapism. The goal is to simulate experiences like the “Overview Effect”—seeing Earth from space—to fundamentally alter human consciousness and foster stewardship.

Telepresence

Through real-time broadcasts from deep-sea expeditions, her initiatives allow anyone with an internet connection to “jack in” and explore the ocean floor alongside scientists, effectively dissolving the barrier between the public and the hidden natural world.

Materializing Science Fiction: Transformative Tech

Through the Schmidt Transformative Technology Fund, Schmidt acts as a patron for “mad science” that leans heavily into solarpunk and hard sci-fi territories. The fund supports high-risk, high-reward engineering projects.

Living Architecture

One project involves creating a concrete-like material that “drinks” water to prevent urban flooding—a step toward the “living cities” often seen in eco-fiction.

Molecular Mapping

Another initiative is building imaging systems to map individual molecules in living cells, granting a “god’s eye view” of biological processes.

Genome Editing

The fund also supports advanced CRISPR technologies for error-free genome editing, the foundational technology for biopunk narratives.

Systems Thinking and “Techno-Philanthropy”

To an audience that appreciates complex magic systems or ecology, Schmidt’s philosophy is “systems thinking.” She views the world not as isolated parts but as an interconnected web of ecological, social, and economic systems.

Techno-Philanthropy

She has been described as a “techno-philanthropist,” a figure who applies the “move fast and break things” velocity of Silicon Valley to saving the biosphere.

Solarpunk Optimism

Rejecting dystopia, Schmidt characterizes herself as a “glass-half-full” realist. Her initiatives aim to prove that humanity has the “creativity and resilience” to engineer its way out of the climate crisis, aligning with the hopeful, solution-oriented ethos of the Solarpunk genre.

In short, Wendy Schmidt is using her resources to turn the “magical” technologies of tomorrow—AI, robotics, and VR—into the practical tools for saving the world today.

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Thank you reading and staying connected!

~ A.A. “Alfie” Rustom

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