# Terra AI

> Terra AI is a Palo Alto geoscience company building generative AI that turns the messy, expensive guesswork of subsurface exploration into fast, probabilistic 3D models of what lies underground. By fusing geophysics, geochemistry, and drilling data, its platform generates millions of geological scenarios in minutes, helping mining and energy teams decide where to drill, how many wells they need, and whether a project is worth the capital - shrinking exploration timelines and pointing capital at the critical minerals the clean-energy transition depends on.

- **Founded:** 2023
- **Headquarters:** Palo Alto, California, United States
- **Founders:** John Mern (Co-Founder & CEO), Anthony Corso (Co-Founder & CTO), Markus Zechner (Co-Founder & General Manager, Reservoirs)
- **Team size:** ~21 employees
- **Products:** Generative Subsurface Modeling Platform, Geology Reasoning Agent, Drill Planning & Optimization, Portfolio & Risk Decision Support
- **Notable:** Raised a $20M Series A in June 2026 led by Khosla Ventures with BHP Ventures and Rio Tinto., Signed marquee customers Rio Tinto, Ero Copper, and Ramaco Resources., Reported 50-60% reduction in exploration drilling meters for customers.

## Products & services

- **Generative Subsurface Modeling Platform** — Integrates geophysics, geochemistry, drilling logs, and other exploration data to generate millions of geologically realistic, probabilistic 3D models in minutes, mapping both the deposit and its uncertainty.
- **Geology Reasoning Agent** — An AI agent for exploration planning that helps teams decide where to drill for maximum information gain, how many wells are needed, which targets to prioritize, and whether to proceed with or abandon a project.
- **Drill Planning & Optimization** — Optimizes drill targeting and placement to reduce key uncertainty, reporting 50-60% reductions in exploration drilling meters in customer workflows.
- **Portfolio & Risk Decision Support** — Quantifies exploration risk and resource prediction accuracy to support asset valuation, prospect evaluation, and capital allocation across mining, enhanced geothermal, and carbon-storage projects.

## Achievements

- Raised a $20M Series A in June 2026 led by Khosla Ventures with BHP Ventures and Rio Tinto.
- Signed marquee customers Rio Tinto, Ero Copper, and Ramaco Resources.
- Reported 50-60% reduction in exploration drilling meters for customers.
- Reported 2-3x more precise resource prediction and 2.5x increased resource definition versus traditional methods.
- Patented technology that generates millions of geological models from integrated exploration data.
- Spun out of Stanford's Intelligent Systems Lab with backing from the TomKat Center.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — Raised $20M Series A led by Khosla Ventures with strategic investment from BHP Ventures and Rio Tinto to scale its generative geological modeling platform.
- **2025** — Rio Tinto made a strategic investment and signed on as a customer; announced major clients Ero Copper and Ramaco Resources.
- **2023** — Founded by Stanford AI PhDs and raised $3.4M seed round led by Khosla Ventures.

## Links

- Website: https://www.terraai.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/terra-ai-sys
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-_xpT_KPhE

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/terra-ai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-08