Google will use the power of the atom to develop AI

IT company Google is considering the possibility of using electricity generated by nuclear power plants (NPPs) to power artificial intelligence (AI) projects and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions into the atmosphere. CEO Sundar Pichai said this in an interview with Nikkei Asia.

He noted that Google's burgeoning AI technologies require a "huge amount of energy resources," and given the company's goal of achieving zero CO2 emissions by 2030, it should seek access to carbon-neutral energy sources. To this end, the company is considering "the possibility of [directly] purchasing electricity from nuclear power plants" to power its data centres, and is also exploring the prospects of "further investment" in solar power and small modular nuclear reactor technology.

The CEO did not specify when and from whom Google plans to start buying electricity from nuclear power plants. The publication suggested it could be to power the company's data centres in the US.

In March 2024, Amazon decided to use power generated from nuclear power plants. In September, Microsoft announced that it would start buying energy resources produced by the "Three Mile Island" nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. | BGNES