Big Tech goes nuclear: Amazon’s pitch to use power plants shows the crucial role the energy source plays for AI

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In today’s big story, inside Amazon’s internal pitch for turning to nuclear power to meet its growing energy needs.

What’s on deck:

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The big story

Nuclear needs

What’s bigger than tech’s ambitious plans for generative AI? The amount of energy needed to power it.

That’s led Big Tech to consider nuclear power to address its skyrocketing energy requirements.

Business Insider’s Eugene Kim has a report on how Amazon navigates its nuclear ambitions. In a signal of how serious Amazon is about going nuclear, the company pitched the energy source to CEO Andy Jassy this June, according to a company document he obtained.

Since then, Amazon has led a $500 million financing round for a company developing modular nuclear reactors. It also agreed to purchase power from Talen Energy’s nuclear-powered data center in March.

And it’s not alone.

Microsoft and Google have invested in the sector, and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman backed a nuclear reactor startup.

The stakes are high for tech players to get energy. Eugene previously reported on how Amazon’s dreams of building a data center empire face the realities of electricity, water, and labor constraints.

Should those data center efforts continue to struggle, companies’ big bets on generative AI could also falter.

A tech-nuclear relationship is mutually beneficial.

Tech companies need cost-efficient, reliable energy sources that won’t increase their carbon footprint, writes BI’s Hasan Chowdhury. Nuclear power ticks that box better than other clean energy options like solar or wind.

Nuclear power, meanwhile, is an industry in desperate need of some love, BI’s Daniel Geiger and Ellen Thomas previously reported. With at least one commercial nuclear plant closing every year since 2013, the sector has welcomed the interest.

“We’re seeing customers approach us at a rate that we haven’t seen in my history with this industry,” Jim Burke, CEO of nuclear owner Vistra, said back in March.

Naturally, there are skeptics. A byproduct of nuclear power is radioactive waste. The transportation and storage of that remains a hot-button issue. High-profile incidents involving power plants like Chernobyl and Fukushima also drew criticism and stoked fears around the globe.

Big Tech hasn’t shied away from it. In September, Microsoft cut a deal with Constellation Energy to get power from part of the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, home to the worst commercial nuclear accident in US history.

News brief

Top headlines

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3 things in tech

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3. A longtime safety researcher left OpenAI. Miles Brundage, who advised OpenAI leadership on safety and policy, announced his departure on X. The AGI Readiness team he oversaw will also be disbanded. Brundage’s exit is the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the startup.

3 things in business

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2. The housing crisis, as explained by two swing states. Renters and homeowners in swing states have been disproportionately affected by rising housing costs. Two states, Pennsylvania and Arizona, exemplify the problem. While Arizona’s population is surging, Pennsylvania’s is shrinking — and neither can build enough homes.
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In other news

What’s happening today

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The Insider Today team: Dan DeFrancesco, deputy editor and anchor, in New York. Jordan Parker Erb, editor, in New York. Hallam Bullock, senior editor, in London. Milan Sehmbi, fellow, in London.