Seven nuclear reactors will boost Google’s artificial intelligence ambitions

Google announced Tuesday that it has signed an agreement with the startup. nuclear power Kairos Power will purchase 500 megawatts of “24/7 new carbon-free energy” from the company’s seven small modular reactors (SMRs). The companies are reportedly eyeing initial delivery of the first SMR in 2030 and full deployment by 2035.

“The energy grid needs new sources of electricity to support artificial intelligence technologies that drive important scientific advances, improve services for businesses and customers, and drive national competitiveness and economic growth,” wrote Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and Google Weather. Google blog on Tuesday. “This agreement helps accelerate the adoption of new technologies to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of artificial intelligence for everyone.”

Terrell says the addition of nuclear power will complement the company’s existing investments in solar and wind power and help it achieve its net-zero energy goals. He also touts nuclear power as a source of long-term, good-paying jobs, citing a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) estimate that building 200 gigawatts of capacity by 2050 would require 375,000 additional workers.

Google is far from the only major tech company eyeing nuclear power as an artificial intelligence solution to its problems. In March, Amazon Web Services acquired a 960-megawatt data center campus from Houston-based Talen Energy for $650 million. In September, Microsoft announced it was working to restart Unit 1 at Three Mile Island in New York to power its artificial intelligence data centers.

That same month, Oracle announced it was designing a 1-gigawatt data center that would be powered by three small nuclear reactors. “The location and energy facility that we have identified already has permits for three nuclear reactors,” Oracle CEO Larry Ellison said during a quarterly call with investors. “These are small modular nuclear reactors to power a data center. This is how it gets crazy. “This is what’s happening.”

Kairos also faces growing competition from other small modular reactor manufacturers. Westinghouse, for example, is currently testing a microreactor that can operate 24/7 for five years without the need for refueling. Given the astronomical power (and cooling) requirements of today’s cutting-edge AI models, these advances can’t come soon enough.