David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, has expressed doubt about the idea that nuclear energy could power artificial intelligence (AI) in the future. Tepper said that natural gas would be needed to meet the energy demands of AI. He called the idea of using nuclear power for this purpose “crazy.”
Tepper shared insights from his talks with various governors across the United States, both Republicans and Democrats.
He said that there is an agreement among these state leaders about the practicality and necessity of natural gas for current and future energy needs related to AI. The remarks come at a time when energy requirements for increasingly sophisticated AI systems are becoming an important topic of discussion. As AI technology continues to evolve, the debate over the most efficient and reliable energy sources remains a critical issue for policymakers and industry leaders alike.
US computer technology company Oracle plans to power a new data centre through nuclear energy, according to the firm’s chief technology officer, Larry Ellison. During a recent earnings call, Ellison confirmed that the cloud computing giant has “already got building permits” for three small modular reactors, although he did not provide specific details on the location and timeline. Ellison emphasized the complexity and scale of the projects Oracle is developing, stating, “We’re in the middle of designing a data centre that’s north of a gigawatt.
We found the location and the power source. These are the small modular nuclear reactors to power the data centre.”
Given the increasing power demands of data centres, nuclear power has emerged as an appealing option for companies seeking to source large amounts of energy while minimizing carbon emissions. In related news, Amazon Web Services (AWS), a subsidiary of the online retail giant founded by Jeff Bezos, is working on a 960 MW data centre campus at the Susquehanna nuclear power station in Pennsylvania.
Moreover, last week, US-based utility Constellation Energy announced a power purchase agreement with Microsoft. The 20-year deal includes restarting the long-shuttered Unit 1 of the Three Mile Island nuclear power station in Pennsylvania.
Natural gas deemed crucial for AI
Constellation stated that Microsoft intends to utilize energy from the nuclear plant to fulfill the power consumption needs of its data centres with carbon-free sources. Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang, a key figure behind the explosion in artificial intelligence computing, has suggested nuclear power as a viable option for the renewable energy needed to support the growing number of data centers.
“Nuclear is wonderful as one of the sources of energy, one of the sources of sustainable energy,” Huang said in an interview. “It won’t be the only one. We’re going to need energy from all sources and balance the availability and the cost of energy as well as the sustainability over time.”
In some parts of the world, electricity generation is already insufficient to support the building of new data centers.
This issue is becoming more pressing as companies invest heavily in new infrastructure they see as integral to the future of computing. As a result, strategic decisions are being made about the locations of new data centers, which Huang refers to as “AI factories.” Some data centers can’t be filled to full capacity, and others are being built far from population centers due to energy constraints. Despite their higher power needs, Huang argues that Nvidia’s newer products are more efficient than their predecessors.
The latest generation chips require over a kilowatt but can perform AI training and operations faster, thereby replacing multiple older components. Separately, Huang discussed Nvidia’s approach to navigating US government restrictions on exports to China. “The first thing we have to do is comply with whatever policies and regulations that are being imposed,” he said.
“And, meanwhile, do the best we can to compete in the markets that we serve. We have a lot of customers there that depend on us and we’ll do our best to support them.”
Huang’s comments come as the tech industry grapples with energy sustainability and geopolitical challenges, emphasizing both the need for innovative energy solutions and agile regulatory compliance.
