Lead-Lag Live

Why Power Is the Real Bottleneck in AI, Drones & Telecom | KULR CEO

• Michael A. Gayed, CFA

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In this episode of Lead-Lag Live, Melanie Schafer sits down with Michael Mo, CEO of KULR Technology Group (NYSE: KULR), to explore why energy reliability is emerging as the critical constraint behind AI, robotics, drones, telecom infrastructure, and next-generation data centers.

Fresh off CES and following KULR’s newly announced $30M telecom battery supply agreement, Mo explains how high-power, high-safety battery systems are becoming mission-critical as electrification accelerates. From NASA-proven thermal technologies to lithium-ion replacements for legacy lead-acid systems, KULR is positioning itself at the center of multiple multi-year secular growth trends.

The conversation covers AI data center power resilience, UAV and drone electrification, telecom backup systems, and why battery safety, reliability, and domestic supply chains matter more than ever as power demand explodes.

In this episode:
– Why power—not chips—may be the next AI bottleneck
– KULR’s NASA-derived battery safety and thermal technologies
– The Cooler One platform and growth across drones, robotics, and aviation
– Replacing lead-acid batteries in telecom with lithium-based solutions
– Energy-as-a-Service and reducing total cost of ownership
– AI data center battery buffers and GPU-level power protection
– Scaling execution with a debt-free balance sheet and strong cash position

Lead-Lag Live brings you inside conversations with the leaders shaping markets at the intersection of technology, energy, and investing. Subscribe for insights that cut through the noise.

#AIInfrastructure #EnergyStorage #BatteryTechnology #Drones #Telecom #DataCenters #Electrification #KULR #MarketOutlook #CleanEnergy #Investing

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SPEAKER_01:

The KUDA One battery platform is something we introduced actually in 2023 to combine all of our NASA-based design testing battery architecture into one platform. So for 2026, the top priority for us is the KUDA One Air battery for UAVs, for drones, for robotics applications, as well as electric uh aviation. We're working with many of the top drone providers in agricultural, industrial, as well as defense applications. US UAV drone battery market is expected to grow to about$2.4 billion by 2020, 2030. Actually, our goal is to be the number one drone battery provider in the US for that market.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Lead Lag Live. Coming out of the consumer electronics show in Las Vegas, one theme keeps showing up across markets. Artificial intelligence, robotics, drones, and telecom infrastructure are all converging around one constant energy. Whether it's data centers, unmanned aerial vehicles, or next generation networks, battery performance and safety are becoming mission critical. Now, on January 14th, Cooler Technology Group announced a major telecom battery supply agreement, reinforcing that shift and putting a spotlight on where real demand is forming beneath the AI narrative. My guest today is Michael Moe, CEO of Cooler Technologies, a company focused on building high-performance battery systems for applications where failure isn't an option. Thanks so much for joining me today, Michael.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you, Larony. It's great to be here.

SPEAKER_00:

So I want to just start with the sort of uh from the high level. For viewers who may be new to hearing about uh Cooler, what does what does your company do today and how did it evolve into the into the markets from when it first started operating until now?

SPEAKER_01:

Greg, yeah. We build high power battery energy storage systems uh based on NASA grade space-proven technologies for uh large-scale industrial and DOD applications. So, as you talked about earlier, the most exciting growth areas for us is batteries for two fast-growing uh areas. One is for drums, UAVs, electric aviation, and robotics. And the other one is for critical infrastructures and telecommunications and AI data centers. And both of these markets demand uh battery uh energy storage systems that are high power, high performance, high reliability, high safety rating, and in many cases, domestic supply chain. And this is where CUDA excels. Uh, our technology portfolio is based on decades of experience in developing uh thermal management and battery safety technologies for NASA space programs, where our products are on the Mars Rover Perseverance to keep the electronics cool, and also on the International Space Station to keep the astronauts battery safe. So uh, and also our manufacturing infrastructure in Houston, Texas, um, and we're expected to uh double that, well or more than double that in 2026 to uh keep up with the supply chain demand in the United States. Well, we are the set on the newer stock exchange under the taker KULR. We've been there since 2021. We have a very strong balance sheet of over$110 million in cash and also in Bitcoin Treasury. We have no debt. Uh, so we're very capitalized to accelerate our growth in 2026.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Yeah, and Michael, you just spent time at the Consumer Electronics Show. When you look across artificial intelligence, robotics, drugs, and things uh that you mentioned, what stood out to you uh particularly this year, and where does energy reliability become the bottleneck?

SPEAKER_01:

So, yeah, um, what is so exciting about these new applications that are seen us this year is not just the acceleration of the electrification of everything. Uh, this has been a trend going for a long time. But these new applications such as AI, uh, UAVs, drums, robotics, are demanding more and more power from the battery uh energy system. Um, so because of AI, you know, as you know, everybody's been talking about investing energy. Um, um, in 2025, uh, some of the best performing stocks was actually probably not AI chips or energy stocks, but actually memory and storage stocks like micron, because memory was actually the bottleneck as keep uh as uh and also the price keep going up. I believe power could be the big investment theme in 2026 and also beyond. Um and and uh that is uh where coolers uh high power uh energy uh storage, battery energy storage systems uh can really shine. I believe the energy problem will be properly addressed over the years, and people are gonna focus more on power, where uh more power is to gonna make drones and also electrifications fly faster and longer. More power is how to make AI data centers more resilient, cleaner power, and also AI at the edge for telecom infrastructure become a reality in the future.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, and so speaking of power, a big part of your operating business is the Cooler One battery platform. What is Cooler One and why is it so central to how you're thinking about uh growth from here on now?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Uh the key driver for our business in 2026 and going forward is gonna be the Cooler One uh battery platform. The Cooler One battery platform is something we introduced actually in 2023 to combine all of our NASA-based uh uh design, testing battery architecture into one platform. So for 2026, the top priority for us is the Cooler One Air battery for UAVs, for drones, for robotics applications, as well as electric uh aviation. Uh, we're working with many of the top drone providers in agricultural, industrial, as well as defense applications. Uh US uh UAV drone battery market is expected to grow to about$2.4 billion by 2020, 2030, actually. Our goal is to be the number one battery, drone uh drone battery provider in the US for that market. Um, the other market driver for us will be Cooler One Max for telecom and data centers. Uh you mentioned that we uh we announced a uh telecom uh uh uh a battery supply relationship earlier uh uh last week. Uh this is a five-year,$30 million supply relationship with the company of Kaban Energy. Super exciting area for us now because uh now we have the opportunity to apply our technology to critical infrastructure telecom battery backup that's expected to grow to be about$35 billion by 2030. And um, as you may know, that the vast majority of the market is still using lead asset battery that needs to be replaced every three to five years. So we're bringing same nitmount batteries that can last five uh eight to ten years to this big market. Uh, and also a new energy as a service business model. So super excited about that. And we're just barely scratching the surface.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so just very specifically, what is the largest uh problem then that the telecol announcement uh solves for customers?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and um because the most of the batteries used for telecom right now are still lead asset batteries. So a lifetime could be anywhere between two to five years. Usually it's a three-year replacement cycle. These batteries are toxic, become landfill, um, and then they are um a you know a big problem for telecom. So we're bringing lithium on batteries into that supply chain to give a much longer life for these customers, for these batteries. We bring a new business model as energy as a service. So customers don't need to buy the batteries anymore. They will lease it from right now the company called Kaban Energy. They would they will lease it and then uh they will start leasing. So the total cost of ownership goes down. Um it's a it's a much better uh product, and uh it's a win-win for the customer um and for the supplier.

SPEAKER_00:

And so, Michael, stepping back when you think about Cooler's long-term strategy, how do you define the company's core goal as a battery manufacturer in markets where safety and performance are the non-negotiable?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Uh so the all these markets, uh UAVs, drums, uh, telecom infrastructure, and another area that we're very excited about is AI data center, that because of the high power requirement, that the thermal performance, uh, reliability, safety becomes paramount. And this is where our core competency really starts shining. Um, for example, the AI data center, um, you know, the BBU space, this is going to be a brand new area where um the new requirements from both Nvidia and uh Meta's open uh compute um uh is spectring out BBU as part of the infrastructure now. So these are high power batteries right next to the GPU as a buffer for clean power, as well as doing power disruption that will provide all the energy and power needed to power down and then save the AI data from the GPU. So that market is gonna be absolutely huge. And then so we're working with the tier one cell manufacturers in the world to build the safest uh and the most energy density, uh high energy density BBUs in the market to serve that market. Um we expect that to get that certified in 2026 and then be in the market and 2027 for those products.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I want to just tap into that a little bit more and ask you as as you scale the business, how do you balance growth opportunities with maintaining the quality and reliability standards that really differentiate uh Cooler from competitors?

SPEAKER_01:

To scale, it's it's all about focus on execution. Uh so 2026, we're absolutely focused on execution and growth. Uh, we're very well capitalized now to execute our strategy. We have a very strong balance sheet, no debt. Uh we have tremendous engineering expertise, tremendous team to execute on that. The customer demand is absolutely there. Uh really, uh to put it simply, we just need to focus on execution. Uh in our in our last earnings call, I talked about I expect the growth of our energy management business to be over 10x over the next three years. Uh so we're executing on that strategy across multiple markets: drums, robotics, UAVs, telecom now, and also the AI data centers. So super excited about that. It's all about focus, it's all about execution.

SPEAKER_00:

And so then just before we wrap, is there anything else you think investors should understand about where the the company is headed that we might not have covered?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, um, I think that we uh found ourselves in a kind of a fortunate position to be the right place at the right time in the right uh um market timing uh where we have the right technology portfolio to serve these high power battery uh storage system demands. That you know, the demand is growing exponentially across multiple industries uh in all these sectors we just talked about telecom, AI data centers, UAV, Stroms, robotics. And these are multi-year uh secular trends that we're participating in. So we're gonna fully leverage our strong balance sheet and focus on execution, serve our customers with great technology and great products, accelerate our growth, and get through profitability. That's what we focus on.

SPEAKER_00:

Fantastic. And just a very last thing, Michael, where where can people go to follow what Cooler is doing and connect with you and the team?

SPEAKER_01:

Sure. Uh our website is uh www.cooler.ai. Uh we're quite active on um LinkedIn, on X, um, and across social media where we communicate with our um shareholders as well as well as with our customers, give you timely updates. Uh I'm also on X. So uh DM me, follow me, and um that's how you get updated.

SPEAKER_00:

Fantastic. Well, Michael, thank you so much for joining me, and thanks to everyone for watching. Be sure to like, share, and subscribe for more episodes of Lead Like Live.

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Michael A. Gayed, CFA

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