Meta has recently signed agreements with various nuclear power companies to purchase energy generated by their plants to power its AI infrastructure and developments, as well as other future ventures.
Meta Announces New Nuclear Power Deals
Meta shared a new announcement which details their latest deals with three nuclear power plants and their companies to purchase energy for the company's AI developments.
According to Meta, there are three companies with which they have recently reached an agreement are Vistra, Oklo, and the Bill Gates co-founded TerraPower, where he also serves as chairman.
The tech company claims that these deals will help add "clean, reliable energy to electric grids, preserve continued investment in operating nuclear power plants, and support the nuclear fuel supply chain, American jobs, and AI innovation."
Meta's partnership with TerraPower will help fund the development of two new reactors for the company, and this is capable of delivering as much as 690 megawatts of power by as early as 2032.
According to Engadget, this also entails Meta's rights to energy from six other reactors that could produce an additional 2.1 gigawatts by 2035.
On the other hand, Meta's deal with Vistra will grant the tech company as much as 2.1 gigawatts of electricity from the nuclear energy company's existing plants in Ohio. This deal will focus on existing nuclear plants of Vistra but will help boost the capacity of the energy generation of these locations to as much as 433 megawatts. It will start by the early 2030s.
Oklo's deal with Meta will bring 1.2 gigawatts of nuclear energy by as early as 2030 and will also help the nuclear power company to create new reactors and help create long-term opportunities in Ohio.
It is important to note that OpenAI's Sam Altman is one of the biggest Oklo investors and owns more than 4% shares of the company.
Nuclear Power for AI Development
Meta is one of the many companies developing AI that have recently partnered with nuclear energy companies and power plants to buy power to help their AI developments.
Apart from these multinational corporations, Google is also one to back nuclear power innovation with their previous partnership with Kairos Power and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) for the development of a small, modular nuclear reactor in Oak Ridge, TN.
This is only one of Google's partners for their infrastructure and AI development needs, targeting the procurement of as much as 500 megawatts of power in the future.
It is known that the AI industry is infamous for creating a global energy crisis, all because of its immense energy needs to power its infrastructure, improve its training, host servers, and more.
Altman previously claimed that one of the biggest advancements to AI development is the use of nuclear energy, and the sought-after nuclear fusion could be the answer to the gargantuan energy demands of the industry.
Originally published on Tech Times
