Google went crazy for artificial intelligence! Nuclear reactor…

Google could use nuclear reactors for continuous, energy-intensive operations like AI.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai hinted that the tech giant could turn to other energy sources, such as nuclear reactors, to power its massive data centers. In a recent interview, CEO Pichai said that Google is investing in clean energy technologies like solar energy and is considering technologies like modular nuclear reactors.

Google could use nuclear reactors for carbon-free data center

The move seems to be in line with Google’s commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations by 2030. Powering data centers, which require large amounts of electricity to run servers, is a major challenge to achieving this goal.

Nuclear power could be part of the solution because of its ability to continuously generate baseload power without carbon emissions. Google will use nuclear energy to power its major AI centers.

But the tech giant is not the only company considering this solution. Amazon and Microsoft also recently signed deals to purchase nuclear-generated electricity for their data centers. In March, Amazon agreed to buy electricity from a nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.

This year, Microsoft signed a 20-year contract to buy electricity from the soon-to-be-restarted Three Mile Island reactor, also in Pennsylvania.

Modular nuclear reactor technology in particular could be a good fit for data center applications. Experts say it could be built close to areas with high electricity needs to avoid transmission losses.

While the nuclear deals are not yet final, they are a sign that Google is taking carbon-free options seriously to power its cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence.