Tech leaders are exploring nuclear power as a solution to the massive energy needs of their data centers, sustainability challenges, and the growing demands of their AI initiatives. SMRs, a new type
of nuclear reactor, are gaining attention for their ability to provide round-the-clock power with minimal emissions. As some of the largest energy users, major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta are investing in these reactors, which could play a key role in global energy transformation.
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:53 Chapter 1. Data centers and the need for power
3:02 Chapter 2. Tech’s big nuclear bets
6:56 Chapter 3. Opposition
9:10 Chapter 4: Nuclear’s path forward
Produced and Edited by: Bradley Hoppenstein
Animation by: Jason Reginato, Josh Kalven
Lead Producer: Anuz Thapa
VP, Executive Producer: Kamelia Angelova
Additional Footage: Getty Images, NBC
» Subscribe to CNBC:
» Subscribe to CNBC TV:
About CNBC: From ‘Wall Street’ to ‘Main Street’ to award winning original documentaries and Reality TV series, CNBC has you covered. Experience special sneak peeks of your favorite shows, exclusive video and more.
Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC’s new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer:
Connect with CNBC News Online
Get the latest news:
Follow CNBC on LinkedIn:
Follow CNBC News on Instagram:
Follow CNBC News on Facebook:
Follow CNBC on Threads:
Follow CNBC News on X:
Follow CNBC on WhatsApp:
#CNBC
Why Amazon, Microsoft, Google And Meta Are Investing In Nuclear Power
source
I thought we were trying to get rid of them.. another lie lol
Humans are so stupid.
Turn off the AI
Is nuclear energy experiencing a renaissance? Because if so then I am happy about it
What’s the difference between high/low and one-touch binary options?
Or just design AI models to be more energy-efficient than ChatGPT, like China's Deepseek requiring significantly less computing power and potentially consuming 10 to 40 times less energy for similar tasks.
Knowledge supports growth.
There WILL BE WASTE in creating ANY Nuclear energy which has to be disposed of. DISPOSED OF, WHERE? IN YOUR BACKYARD? This is only ONE of the reasons it was abandoned in the 70s !! Not clean energy!!! Keep looking, and say “NO” to Nuclear anything!! Its not a win!!
SMR and OKLO will be stocks to invest in
2:43 molten salt near lava but
Fuel not mentioned! Research where Uranium is mined..
These companies are investing in nuclear because of their insane energy demands, limited fossil fuel production and a deep desire to steal as much as possible from consumers (which they should be calling people). Does paying for solar panels or wind on every business and home capable of having it make sense if they can't charge customers (again, people) for it? Of course not. Their friends who supply their energy wouldn't be happy if private and government interests can't profit off people… that would just be wrong…
Wow!! The far-left woke meisters going nuclear. Very good. And very interesting. Hope they consulted Greenpeace on that one.
We are already using small nuclear reactors in the navy. The USS Carl Vinson uses two Westinghouse A-4 reactors.
Vive la France, vive EDF. Vive Orano- la hague.
I’d like to see these companies make significant investments in not just nuclear fission, but also nuclear fusion. Fusion has all the benefits of fission, but the underlying physics of fusion eliminates any possibly of a meltdown. With their financial backing, I imagine they could greatly accelerate the push in achieving the first nuclear fusion power plant
Woohoo chernobyl 😭
Where are they putting the nuclear waste?
HYDROGEN is future
Once the Nuclear power is shut down, DO NOT RESTART!!!
Huh the same people who hated evil nuclear. Guess when your funsing has to xome from product inatead of stolen tax $ you change your tone
This is AI’s issue. These expenses should not be passes down to consumers at all. Since AI is the cure all for the data centers let it solve it’s own problem and stop republicans and democrats from taking lobby money so consumers end paying for it.
Reality: 1) SMR so far are just a concept idea! 2) The construction times of all nuclear power plants in the last 25 years have ALWAYS been at least twice as long as planned. And the construction costs have ALWAYS exploded by several hundred percent. Just google: “nuclear power plant, costs” – and then the name of the nuclear power plant Flamanville/F, Hinkley Point/UK, Olkiluoto/FIN, Oma/Japan, Vogtle and Virgil Summers/USA. In January, for example, the French Court of Auditors published the real costs of the Flamanville nuclear power plant, which went into operation in 2024. It was €23.7 billion instead of the planned €3.3 billion!!!
I think the only other solution for the AI power consumption is to completely rethink the way that AI uses computing power. Maybe we need to completely recode AI from the ground up so it doesn't need so much complex, power-hungry hardware, which would tremendously reduce the demands on the electric grid.
If big tech is using all the power they should be required to build power plants.
What a bunch of crap. Three Mile Island disaster is “benign”. Such propaganda. China is eating our lunch in renewables and now low powered AI with their Deepseek. Solar, wind, geo, tidal etc are all way safer and don’t melt down like Nuclear. Even world class engineers like the Japanese can’t make nuclear safe and wait till Trump walks back all the regulations….good luck with safety.
@joniearnst @chuckgrassely
BEWARE: while attending UCSD and originally pursuing a degree in economics and later chemical engineering I had a lot of people following me including the Tijuana Drug Trafficking Catel and I survived a few assassination attempts while living off campus!
The technology companies need to sponsor employees to attend science and technology schools pursuing degrees in physics, chemical engineering, and advanced mathematics!
Hopefully this will get bug oil to invest more in nuclear powerplants