Google uses nuclear energy to power its artificial intelligence data centers

Google has signed a deal to use small nuclear reactors to generate the massive amounts of energy needed to power its artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.

The company said the deal with Kairos Power will see it begin operating its first reactor this decade and bring more of them online by 2035.

The companies did not provide any details about the value of the deal or where the factories would be built.

Technology companies are increasingly turning to nuclear energy sources to power massive AI-enabled data centers.

“The grid needs new power sources to support AI technology,” Michael Terrell saidsenior director of energy and climate at Google.

“This agreement helps accelerate new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, while unlocking the full potential of AI for everyone.”

The deal with Google “is critical to accelerating the commercialization of advanced nuclear energy by demonstrating technical and market feasibility,” said Jeff Olson, chief executive of Kairos. of a key solution for a decarbonized power grid.”

The plans still must be approved by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as well as local agencies before being allowed to proceed.

Last year, US regulators granted California-based Kairos Power its first license in 50 years to build a new type of nuclear reactor.

In July, the company began construction of a demonstration reactor in Tennessee.

The startup specializes in developing smaller reactors that use molten fluoride salts as coolant instead of water, which is used by traditional nuclear plants.

Nuclear power, which is virtually carbon-free and provides electricity 24 hours a day, is becoming increasingly attractive to the tech industry as it tries to cut emissions even as it uses more energy.

According to Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs, global energy consumption by data centers is expected to more than double by the end of the decade.

At last year’s United Nations Climate Change Conference, the United States joined a group of countries that want to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050 as part of efforts to phase out fossil fuels. .

However, critics say nuclear power is not without risks and produces long-term radioactive waste.

Last month, Microsoft reached an agreement to restart operations at the Three Mile Island energy plantThe site of America’s worst nuclear accident in 1979.

In March, Amazon said it would buy a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania.