Google Signs World's First Nuclear Power Purchase Agreement to Support AI Technologies

Google will use nuclear reactors to power artificial intelligence data centres, The Wall Street Journal reports.

On 14 October, Google reportedly signed an agreement to receive electricity from seven small nuclear reactors.

Under the terms of the agreement, Google has committed to buy electricity generated by the reactors to be built by Kairos Power, a nuclear energy startup. The company said that the agreement envisages the addition of 500 megawatts of nuclear power starting from the end of the decade.

This agreement is the first to form the basis for the commercial construction of small modular nuclear reactors in the United States. Many say the technology is the future of nuclear power, potentially allowing faster and less expensive construction by building smaller reactors instead of giant custom-built plants.

‘The ultimate goal is round-the-clock carbon-free energy. We believe that to achieve the goals of round-the-clock clean energy, you're going to need technologies that complement wind and solar and lithium-ion storage,’ said Michael Terrell, senior director of energy and climate at Google.

The Wall Street Journal writes that the fate of nuclear power is increasingly dependent on big technologies. In some parts of the United States, electricity demand is growing for the first time in years, largely due to the need to build more data centres for AI. This has pushed the tech industry to seek out more energy.