Microsoft is plan to reopen a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, but it's not the only tech giant using nuclear power to meet artificial intelligence increasing energy needs: Google is also getting into the game with a new partnership.
On Monday, Google signed “The world's first corporate deal” to buy nuclear power from engineering company Kairos Power. Within the next six years, Kairos Power will receive its first nuclear reactor that produces energy in operation. By 2035, the company will provide Google with multiple sources of nuclear energy.
The deal adds 500 megawatts (MWs) of power to the US grid.
Related: Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang Says Nuclear Power “Is a Great Way Forward” for AI Data Centers
According to Google's statement, the deal was necessary to support AI advances.
“This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone,” Google wrote.
Google is already behind on its environmental targets due to investments in AI – the technology was the main cause of emissions growing 48% as of 2019. Nuclear power is a carbon-free energy source, another reason Google noted for the partnership.
Meanwhile, Microsoft has signed a deal to buy nuclear power from Three Mile Island, a plant it has experienced worst accident in US commercial operating history in 1979. The plant was closed in 2019 for economic reasons but will reopen with a $1.6 billion investment. Microsoft will buy power from it for 20 years.
Related: Will it take nuclear power to support AI? Microsoft is betting on it.