As artificial intelligence (AI) continues to surge globally, tech giants are investing in expanding data centers to support large language models, leading to a dramatic increase in electricity consumption. The challenge of producing more clean energy to meet this growing demand has become a significant hurdle for AI's future development.
Google is reportedly collaborating with utility companies in the U.S. and other countries to evaluate nuclear energy as a potential power source for its data centers. This move highlights Google's growing interest in using atomic energy to fuel the AI boom. Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's Global Head of Data Center Energy, noted their intent to explore new technologies like nuclear energy to integrate them into the grid due to restrictions in highly regulated markets.
According to a previous environmental report by Google, 64% of the company's global operations are powered by carbon-free energy, including wind and solar. However, the intermittent nature of solar and wind energy has driven companies like Google to consider more stable clean energy options such as nuclear or less-used geothermal energy.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai mentioned initiatives to meet the substantial energy demands of AI projects, including exploring nuclear power for data centers and increasing investments in solar and thermal energy. He emphasized the ambitious zero-emission goal and acknowledged the increasing challenges posed by AI investments. The company is considering additional investments like solar power and evaluating technologies such as small modular reactors.
Other tech giants are also betting on nuclear energy to address AI's energy requirements. Microsoft and Amazon view nuclear energy as a stable, low-carbon solution to their escalating data center power demand and a means to reduce fossil fuel dependency and emissions.
Recently, Microsoft signed a 20-year energy procurement agreement with the Three Mile Island nuclear station, now renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, to power AI data centers and cloud services. Amazon also purchased a nuclear-powered data center in Pennsylvania. NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang indicated nuclear power is a viable option for AI energy needs, emphasizing the necessity of diverse energy sources for long-term sustainability.
