By Conor Grant

This is an edition of The Future of Everything newsletter, a look at how innovation and technology are transforming the way we live, work and play. If you're not subscribed, sign up here .

Autonomous skidders that drag felled trees around logging sites. A database detailing each tree in the forest. A screen that shows loggers which trees to cut and which to leave standing.

This week, Ryan Dezember reports on Weyerhaeuser's push to use AI to deliver these and other changes to American forestry.

Some AI applications envisioned by Weyerhaeuser -- which is the country's top logger and one of its oldest companies -- are unique to a company that manages timberlands in the U.S. and Canada that together cover an area roughly the size of Indiana.

Weyerhaeuser is creating a digital twin of its timberlands using satellite imagery, drone photography and lidar, which will tell the company the size, species and spacing of each tree. It's using AI to pore over drone footage and calculate seedling survival rates -- a process that's typically labor-intensive. Weyerhaeuser is also studying semiautonomous logging equipment, and working to automate other parts of the logging process.

The Seattle company outlined plans to boost annual profits by $1 billion -- roughly double 2025's -- by the end of the decade, independent of any increase in lumber prices. Executives are counting on efficiencies achieved with AI to deliver a big chunk of those gains.

More on this topic:

   -- Farms are going autonomous, from drones to robot pickers. (Read) 
 
   -- AI is coming to the apple orchard -- from pollinating to picking. (Read) 
 
   -- Larry Ellison's half-billion-dollar quest to change farming has been a 
      bust. (Read) 

🤔 What do you think about efforts to apply AI to forestry? Send me your thoughts, questions and predictions at future@wsj.com (if you're reading this in your inbox, you can just hit reply).

More of What's Next: Robot Half-Marathoners; the Search for Extraterrestrial Life; New Nuclear Projects

A Chinese robot beat the human half-marathon record. A bot called Lightning won this year's humanoid-robot race in Beijing in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, according to state media, demonstrating China's rapid progress in humanoid robotics.

The first U.S. commercial nuclear-power projects in a decade are under construction. Bill Gates-founded TerraPower started construction this week in Wyoming after Kairos Power broke ground last week in Tennessee, marking a potential turning point for the industry.

The hunt for extraterrestrial life is entering a new frontier, writes science journalist Nadia Drake. Scientists are using new tools and approaches -- such as advanced telescopes, models and AI -- to look for signs of life beyond Earth.

Future Feedback

Last week, we reported on one company's plans to reuse EV batteries for energy storage. Readers shared their thoughts on recycling EV batteries:

   -- "I'm excited about the future of electric batteries. We have solar panels, 
      but haven't invested in a storage system yet because we're waiting for 
      solid state batteries -- both for the environmental impact and their 
      dependence on exploitative practices. The opportunities to solve complex 
      challenges are incredible, if people can weather the failures required to 
      succeed. Sadly, our culture is increasingly intolerant of such endeavors. 
      The irony is, people who persevere can be wildly successful." -- 
      Marchauna Rodgers, Washington 
 
   -- "With all the energy that goes into the creation of an EV battery, I 
      would hope that some genius would figure out a way to extend their lives 
      beyond pushing people to the shopping centers." -- R. Richard Hayes, 
      Michigan 
 
   -- "I look forward to the day when a company recycles EV vehicle batteries 
      for home storage. I've searched for such a company but have not found 
      one. Three years ago, I traded a three-year-old EV in for a new one -- 
      and at about that same time, I purchased a Tesla home battery. I have 
      three such batteries for my home, but more can always be of value." -- 
      Scott Baker, Hawaii 

(Responses have been condensed and edited.)

Elsewhere in the Future

   -- How "age tech" might help you grow old at home. (The New York Times) 
 
   -- A startup says it grew human sperm in a lab -- and used it to make 
      embryos. (Wired) 
 
   -- Los Angeles is finally going underground. (MIT Technology Review) 

About Us

Thanks for reading The Future of Everything. We cover the innovation and tech transforming the way we live, work and play. This newsletter was written by Conor Grant. Get in touch with us at future@wsj.com. Got a tip for us? Here's how to submit.

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April 24, 2026 11:55 ET (15:55 GMT)

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