On September 30th 2025, Co-Founder and Chairman of Recursive, Katsutoshi Yamada, spoke at "Talk with Nature Business Founders: The Front Lines of Nature Positive Business", held at Google for Startups Campus Tokyo.
The event convened leaders to discuss the path towards a nature-positive future, the vital roles of companies and startups, and the practical application of technology.
During the session, Yamada stressed that the biodiversity crisis must be viewed not merely as an environmental issue, but as an urgent threat to the very foundation of the global economy.
He cited data from the World Economic Forum, noting that over half the world's total GDP, a staggering 58 trillion dollars, is directly or indirectly dependent on natural capital and its ecosystem services. This fact illuminates the severe risk: the destruction of biodiversity could fundamentally destabilize economic activity and severely jeopardize financial systems.
This natural capital crisis is even deeply connected to the development of cutting-edge digital technologies like AI. Yamada illustrated this link by examining the dangerous interplay between water resource management and accelerating climate risk. For example, he noted that a single large-scale forecast fire can release CO2 emissions equivalent to the United States' annual output in just about 45 days, while simultaneously wreaking enormous damage on local biodiversity (detailed here). This is a clear, negative feedback loop where the loss of natural capital directly fuels climate change. To proactively combat this risk, Recursive is deploying AI solutions to support sustainable forestry. With our partners, we have developed a custom AI model that accurately predicts groundwater levels in tropical peatlands, enabling timely intervention to minimize the risk of devastating forest fires.
Furthermore, while massive investments are currently fueling the growth of the AI and semiconductor sectors, Yamada touched on a a critical point; the production of these technologies demands vast amounts of clean water. The stark reality is that, if water runs out, semiconductor production becomes impossible. Here, he referenced a collaborative project between Recursive and a key partner company which focuses on water stewardship (detailed here). He concluded this point by emphasizing the critical importance of ensuring that "advanced technological development proceeds in harmony with the Earth".
Recursive is dedicated to advancing nature business through the strategic application of AI technology.
Our highly personalized AI solutions are designed to support companies by enabling the accurate visualization and prediction of their natural capital impact, thereby facilitating the implementation of optimal solutions. Crucially, leveraging AI to mitigate global threats, such as the early detection of wildfires or the efficient management of water resources, is fundamental to Recursive's core goals of accelerating innovation and boosting productivity.
Moving forward, Recursive will continue to utilize AI to drive the development of a "nature-positive" society, successfully balancing economic progress with long-term planetary sustainability.
Founded by a former senior research engineer at Google DeepMind, Recursive brings together world-class talent from across disciplines to engineer results where others can't.
