AI to go nuclear? Data center deals say it's inevitable

snydeq writes: Anticipating astronomical compute-intensive AI workloads, hyperscalers and heavy data center operators are turning to energy providers for nuclear-fueled solutions in a ‘global arms race for power like nothing we have ever seen before,’ reports CIO.com's Paula Rooney.

AWS has paid $650 million to purchase a 960-megawatt nuclear-powered data center on site at Talen Energy’s Susquehanna, Penn., nuclear plant, with additional data centers planned — pending approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Agency.

Microsoft, Google, and Nucor, a maker of small module nuclear reactors (SMRs), put out a request for information this spring, and Constellation Energy showed interest about cooperating on a possible SMR and securing contracts to imminently access nuclear power from the Baltimore power company, says a spokesperson for Constellation, one of the nation’s largest nuclear power providers.

“The data economy and Constellation’s nuclear energy go together like peanut butter and jelly. And as such, we are in advanced conversations with multiple clients, large, well-known companies that you all know about powering their needs,” said Joe Dominquez, Constellation’s CEO during a company conference call in May.