Google Founding Board Member Ram Shriram Joins GridCARE Board of Directors

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 15, 2026--

GridCARE, the company accelerating time-to-power for modern AI Factories, today announced that Ram Shriram has joined its Board of Directors. A founding board member of Google and one of Silicon Valley’s most influential technology investors, Shriram brings decades of experience scaling category-defining platforms during major industry transitions.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260115435052/en/

“I’ve always invested in exceptional entrepreneurs and innovators solving real, consequential problems,” said Shriram . “The AI revolution is being throttled by a single constraint: power. GridCARE is tackling a foundational challenge for the AI economy, and its team brings unmatched depth across power systems and AI to solve it at the scale and urgency the moment demands.”

“From recognizing Google’s potential at its inception to helping shape some of the most iconic technology companies of our era, Ram’s track record speaks for itself,” said Amit Narayan, Founder and CEO of GridCARE . “His experience scaling category-defining platforms and building enduring companies will be invaluable as we meet the unprecedented demand for AI infrastructure.”

A Legendary Track Record in Technology Investing

Ram Shriram's investment acumen has shaped the modern technology landscape. In 1998, Shriram was among the first outside investors in Google, providing critical early-stage capital and strategic guidance that helped transform a Stanford research project into a global technology giant. He has served on Google’s board since its founding and continues today as a board member of Alphabet Inc.

Before his legendary Google investment, Shriram served as Vice President at Netscape during the dawn of the internet age and later as Vice President of Business Development at Amazon.com under Jeff Bezos. In 2000, he founded Sherpalo Ventures, an early-stage venture firm with a portfolio that includes category leaders such as Notion, Skyroot, and Gusto.

"The pace of AI and cloud growth demands new thinking about how we power the digital economy," said Christian Belady, a GridCARE advisor, former Vice President of Data Center R&D at Microsoft, and creator of the industry-standard PUE metric . "GridCARE's approach is exactly what the industry needs: making better use of existing infrastructure to accelerate time-to-power while keeping costs down for everyone. Ram Shriram joining the board validates what those of us in the data center world already know: this team is building something essential."

GridCARE: Rapid Momentum in AI Infrastructure

Shriram’s appointment follows a strong year of execution and growth for GridCARE. The company emerged from stealth in May 2025 as the first startup born out of the Stanford Sustainability Accelerator and closed a highly oversubscribed $13.5 million seed financing round led by Xora, a deep-tech venture capital firm backed by Temasek.

GridCARE accelerates deployment of AI Factories by reducing data centers' time-to-power from 7+ years to under 12 months. The company estimates it can activate over 100 gigawatts of capacity across the U.S. power grid — capacity that has been overlooked by traditional grid planning methods but is immediately actionable for AI infrastructure deployment. The company has rapidly secured partnerships with major utilities, including Pacific Gas & Electric and Portland General Electric. It is currently working with over a dozen hyperscalers, data centers, and powered land developers.

GridCARE has already demonstrated the impact of its platform, unlocking 400 megawatts of capacity in Hillsboro, Oregon, one of the most sought-after locations for AI data centers in the United States. The company's recently published white paper details how AI Factories can help reduce electricity costs for all ratepayers by optimizing grid utilization and enabling more efficient infrastructure deployment.

“ Ram Shriram understands how to build companies that matter, and this one matters,” said Mohsen Moazami, GridCARE advisor and former Office of the CEO/President of Groq (asset acquired by Nvidia) . “GridCARE makes better use of our existing infrastructure — that is good for AI, good for utilities, and good for every consumer. ”

World-Class Team

GridCARE brings together a founding technical team from Stanford, including Ram Rajagopal, a Stanford Professor and leading researcher in AI for power systems; Liang Min, Executive Director of Stanford’s Bits & Watts initiative; and Arun Majumdar, Dean of the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability and former Vice President of Energy at Google. This technical foundation is complemented by seasoned operators, including Alaina Bookstein (Head of Sales and Partnerships, former AWS Global Head of Strategic Business Development), Jessica Hogle (Head of Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs, former PG&E and TVA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs), and Shaneez Mohinani (Head of Strategy & Operations, former Goldman Sachs). Amit Narayan, a serial entrepreneur with multiple successful exits, leads the company. He previously founded Berkeley Design Automation (acquired by Mentor Graphics/Siemens) and AutoGrid (acquired by Schneider Electric), scaling both into category-defining companies.

GridCARE's investor roster reflects the company’s position at the nexus of AI infrastructure and climate technology. In addition to lead investor Xora (backed by Temasek), the company has secured investments from Aina Climate AI Ventures, Overture Ventures, Breakthrough Energy Discovery, WovenEarth, Acclimate Ventures, Clearvision, Clocktower Ventures, and Sherpalo Ventures. The round also attracted prominent technology and energy leaders, including Tom Steyer, Gokul Rajaram, Bill Younger, Felix Zhang, Balaji Prabhakar, and Tarun Raisoni, reinforcing the company’s potential to reshape AI infrastructure.

About GridCARE

GridCARE delivers Speed-to-Power for AI data centers. Our physics-based AI platform identifies and activates near-term capacity on today’s grid, enabling data centers to energize faster while helping utilities grow without compromising reliability or affordability.

Founded at Stanford’s Doerr School and backed by leading AI and energy investors, GridCARE strengthens U.S. AI competitiveness by accelerating access to power at scale. To date, the GridCARE platform has created more than $10 billion in economic value for data center developers by bringing hundreds of megawatts online years ahead of schedule.

Learn more at gridcare.ai.

Ram Shriram, founding Google board member and early investor, joins GridCARE's Board of Directors

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan acknowledges that sharing a name and party affiliation with the incumbent Republican gives him “an instant megaphone" in the crowded primary race. But Sullivan said his campaign isn't a sham or something Democrats put him up to doing.

He said friends for years have jokingly referred to him as senator and asked if he has ever thought about running. He said he’s been considering it for more than a decade.

“This is my choice,” Sullivan, who lives in the small fishing community of Petersburg, said in a telephone interview Monday.

Last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan accused the challenger Sullivan of “trying to trick” voters to help his main rival in the race, Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. The senator suggested the other Sullivan's entrance in the August primary was part of a coordinated effort by Democrats and Peltola's campaign to confuse voters, an accusation they deny. He threatened litigation to get to the bottom of it.

The issue is of national concern to Republicans because they are seeking to hold onto their majority in the U.S. Senate in what is expected to be a difficult midterm election year for the party in power. Sullivan, the challenger, dismissed claims that his candidacy is a merely a ruse to undermine the senator's reelection chances.

He said he has had no contact with Peltola's campaign — “zero, none, zilch” — and said “no” when asked if anyone from the state Democratic Party or any national Democratic operatives had contacted him to run.

A Peltola spokesperson, Harry Child, has said the campaign “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, Jenny-Marie Stryker, said her organization “is in no way affiliated with either Dan Sullivan.” A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson, Monica Robinson, replied “no” when asked if the group had been involved in urging the challenger Sullivan to run.

Sullivan called sharing a name with the Alaska's incumbent U.S. senator “a matter of fate” and said he had done nothing wrong.

“I have every right to run for whatever office I'm qualified for, and I’m qualified for this office,” the challenger said, adding: “I think I’m doing what most Americans would think would be a patriotic thing to do when you’re unsatisfied with the status quo. You stand up and say, I’m going to fight for things I believe that are going to make my community better.”

Ballots in prior years in Alaska have not identified the incumbent, but the Alaska Division of Elections’ current candidate list online does. It also distinguishes the candidates using a middle initial — Dan S. Sullivan for the senator and Dan J. Sullivan for the challenger.

Alaska has open primaries in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the ranked choice general election in November. Sen. Sullivan's campaign worries having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot could confuse voters.

Sen. Sullivan's campaign, in a statement Monday, said, “Alaskans deserve a fair and honest election — not political games meant to manipulate the ballot and benefit Democrats.”

The challenger said he was registered with the limited government-leaning Alaskan Independence Party for decades, until the party's dissolution late last year. Election officials had said voters registered with the party could change their affiliation but if they did not, they'd be shown as “undeclared.” Sullivan said he then was listed as undeclared until filing to run for office, when he registered as Republican.

He said he was motivated in part by his late father, whom he described as a “true, compassionate, conservative Republican.” He said if he had to label himself, it would be “a pragmatic Republican centrist” — similar to Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski, but “with touches of a Rand Paul Republican in there.”

He said he grew up in the Chicago area but was drawn to Alaska and put down roots nearly 50 years ago in Petersburg. The fishing community of about 3,400 in southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest is known as “Little Norway” for its many residents with Scandinavian roots. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service before changing careers and becoming a teacher. He has since retired.

Like most communities in Alaska, Petersburg isn't connected to the state's main road system and is accessible only by air or water. Juneau, the nearest city, is about 45 minutes away by plane.

Petersburg sits on Mitkof Island, which is distinguished by mountains, thick stands of forest and boggy areas called muskeg. Sea lions hauled up on buoys and humpback whales and orcas are common sights off its shores.

Sullivan, who will turn 69 this weekend, passed on an interview request last Friday, he said, because the king salmon were running and he wanted to fish.

As far as his run for office, the challenger said he plans to do some fundraising and hopes to campaign in the state's larger cities, including Anchorage and Juneau, but he so far has no firm plans to do so and is working on the details.

He finds the current dustup over his Senate run — and the incumbent's reaction — a bit surprising.

“I guess my thought would be, ‘Dude, why don’t you just run your campaign?’ If you’ve got a strong record, run on your record. People will love you for it and you’ll be swept back into office,” he said Monday. “Why would he be concerned that a guy out of Petersburg is this huge threat?”

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, heads to a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)