Metaplatforms (META) is looking for partners in the field of nuclear energy to achieve its objectives in artificial intelligence.
The company published a request for proposals Tuesday for U.S. nuclear power developers who can deliver one to four gigawatts of new nuclear generating capacity starting in the early 2030s.
“Advancing the technologies that will build the future of human connection – including the next wave of AI innovation – requires power grids to expand and adopt new energy sources that are reliable, clean and renewables,” Meta said in a statement.
It seeks partners who will enable, design, finance, construct and operate power plants to create long-term nuclear resources.
Meta a doubled AI spendingwith CEO Mark Zuckerberg promising to increase investment in AI next year. In his third quarter earnings reportMeta increased its capital spending estimates for fiscal year 2024 between $38 and $40 billion.
Meta AI, the company’s AI chatbot integrated into its popular social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook, has more than 500 million monthly users. Zuckerberg previously said he was on track to become the most used AI assistant worldwide by the end of this year.
Learn more: AI pushes data centers toward a nuclear-powered future
In recent months, large companies, including Amazon, Microsoft and Google announced partnerships with energy companies to set up and build so-called “small modular reactors” or SMRs – smaller, less powerful nuclear reactors with advanced safety features. They can also go live faster because construction takes less time.
Amazon (AMZN) signed an agreement with Talen Energy “to co-locate a data center adjacent to” the company’s Pennsylvania-based nuclear facility. Google (GOOGLE) announced that he had signed “the world’s first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear power” from SMRs developed by California-based Kairos Power, and expects the first SMR to come online by the end of the decade.
And in September, Microsoft (MSFT) and Constellation (CEG) announced a 20-year power purchase contract that would restart the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island, near the site of one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents in the United States. Through this agreement, which will launch the Crane Clean Energy Center (CCEC), Microsoft will purchase energy from the Unit 1 Reactor to help meet carbon targets.
AI – and the data centers that power it – are extremely power hungry. A query about ChatGPT needs almost 10 times more electricity like a Google search, according to a Goldman Sachs study (GS). In April, Ami Badani, marketing director of British chip designer Arm (ARM), said data centers powering AI chatbots such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT represent 2% of global electricity consumption. This demand, Badani said, could ultimately slow progress in AI.
The International Energy Agency estimated in its latest annual report forecast that the total electricity consumption of data centers – which host computer systems – could reach more than 1,000 terawatt hours in 2026.
— Britney Nguyen contributed to this article.