--- title: "Robert Downey Jr. Wants to Clean Up Earth With Robots and AI" description: "Actor Robert Downey Jr. from \"Iron Man\" fame spoke at this year's re:MARS conference in Las Vegas about how robotics and AI could save the environment." date: "2019-06-05" modified: "2019-06-05" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/robert-downey-jr-clean-earth-robots-ai" categories: - "Climate Change" - "Environment" - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" - "Science & Energy" tags: - "artificial intelligence" - "climate change" - "Nanotechnology" - "the digest" --- # Robert Downey Jr. Wants to Clean Up Earth With Robots and AI ![]() *\Image: Shutterstock/NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Stark Industries "Iron Man" actor Robert Downey Jr. [spoke at this year's re:MARS conference]() in Las Vegas — an event hosted by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos — about how robotics, AI, and other advanced technologies could be the solution for reversing humanity's destructive carbon footprint. Downey Jr. announced a brand-new initiative called Footprint Coalition, which sounds like something the fictional Tony Stark, who he plays in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, would come up with. "Recently, I was at a table with super smart, impressive, expert folks about six months ago, and the following statement was made: 'between robotics and technology, we could probably clean up the planet significantly, if not entirely within a decade,'" he said, as [quoted by *Business Insider*](). ## Carbon Vapor But details on what the Coalition will actually do specifically and how it will get funding are still sparse. A new website went up shortly after Downey Jr.'s announcement with a simple sign-up sheet — but that's pretty much the extent of what we know about the effort. The Footprint Coalition is scheduled to launch by April 2020, [*Variety* reports](). ## Environ Man The news comes after the actor was tapped to create a [documentary mini-series]() on AI for YouTube Red (now YouTube Premium). Downey Jr. made it clear that he doesn't only want to be part of the solution — he's been a big part of the problem as well. "I have this quiet sense of crisis," he said at the event. "I’m a one-man carbon footprint nightmare colossus." **READ MORE:** [Robert Downey Jr. Announces Footprint Coalition to Clean Up the World With Advanced Tech]() \[*Variety*\] **More on climate change:** *[New Research: Human Civilization Will Likely Collapse By 2050]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()