Microsoft To Use Nuclear Energy To Power Its AI Computation: Report

With Artificial intelligence (AI) booming globally, tech major Microsoft is reportedly in talks for powering AI computation with small nuclear reactors, according to a recent media report.

Microsoft’s nuclear energy aims were traced when the company posted a job description on Thursday that read its requirement for a nuclear technology expert to lead the company’s technical assessment that is to integrate small modular nuclear reactors and microreactors.

The company said the reactors will be used to power the data centres on which the Microsoft Cloud and AI reside.

Microsoft has not officially committed to pursuing nuclear energy from an innovator in the fusion space.

Meanwhile in January this year, the tech major announced a multiyear, multibillion-dollar investment in OpenAI, maker of viral AI chatbot ChatGPT. 

Bill Gates, Microsoft’s Co-founder, is also the chairman of the board of TerraPower, a nuclear innovation company developing and scaling small modular reactor designs. But currently, it does not hold any agreements to sell reactors to Microsoft, the report added.

Earlier in May Microsoft signed a power purchase agreement with Helion, a nuclear fusion startup, to buy electricity from it in 2028.