{
  "id": 15761907,
  "title": "Plants can speak using electricity, so this startup built an AI model to decipher their language",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/plants-can-speak-using-electricity-so-this-startup-built-an-ai-model",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-10-20T16:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "TechCrunch",
    "slug": "techcrunch",
    "url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/20/plants-can-speak-using-electricity-so-this-startup-built-an-ai-model-to-decipher-their-language/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Justin Mast's life was transformed by an artificial plant that communicated through electricity. Several years ago, Mast encountered a scientific article about a houseplant with a motorized stand. The plant would send electrical signals when it needed more light, and a control board would move the plant closer to a light source. Intrigued, Mast teamed up with neuroscientist Lee von Kraus to create Electric Plant, which has been gathering data to develop a large language model, Bombadil, for interpreting plant signals. Bombadil aims to help growers understand a plant's needs through electrical signals. The founders believe this could eventually enable \"speaking\" to plants. Electric Plant recently secured $11.2 million in seed funding to bring Bombadil to market. While farmers and growers typically rely on coarse tools for plant care, Electric Plant's sensors, about the size of an iPhone folded, are more sophisticated and considerably cheaper. These sensors, attached to plants using stainless steel screws, transmit data to a base station via a low-power wireless network. Bombadil processes this data in the cloud, providing insights to growers to optimize watering and fertilization schedules. This system could potentially increase yields and reduce water usage by 20% or more. Currently, Electric Plant's first customers remain undisclosed, but applications for the technology could span agriculture and forestry. Bombadil's model is unique, covering a wide range of plant species, from ferns and redwoods to tomatoes and dahlias.",
  "summary": "Electric Plant has built an AI-powered translator to help humans listen to what plants are saying with the subtle electricity coursing through their stems.",
  "key_points": [
    "Justin Mast discovered an electrically communicating artificial plant",
    "Electric Plant develops AI model Bombadil to interpret plant signals",
    "$11.2M seed funding to bring Bombadil to market for optimized plant care"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}