On Wednesday, Amazon revealed its plans to invest in nuclear power generation to supply clean energy to its data centers, which is a crucial aspect of the tech giant’s strategy to enhance AI-driven services. "Nuclear energy is a safe and reliable source that can fulfill our customers' energy requirements for decades, ” stated Kevin Miller, Amazon Web Services' vice president of global data centers. The company aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions—where the quantity of greenhouse gases emitted equals the amount removed—by 2040. Amazon joins other tech leaders in seeking nuclear power as a clean energy alternative to meet the increasing energy demands of data centers. Earlier this week, Google announced a partnership with California’s Kairos Power, planning to purchase energy from small nuclear reactors that Kairos is set to develop, with the first reactor expected to be operational by 2030. Furthermore, last month, Microsoft revealed its agreement with the owner of the decommissioned Three Mile Island nuclear facility in Pennsylvania to reactivate the plant for energy production. To advance nuclear energy initiatives, Amazon is collaborating with Dominion Energy Virginia, Energy Northwest, and Talen Energy, focusing on the creation of smaller, faster nuclear reactors. The company is also investing in X-Energy Reactor Company, based in Maryland, which announced on Wednesday it has secured $500 million in funding. Dominion Energy chair, president, and CEO, Robert Blue, called the collaboration an “important step forward” towards developing “carbon-free power generation in Virginia, ” according to a company news release. These partnerships emerge as technology firms face escalating electricity demands owing to the race to enhance AI capabilities that generate text, images, and diverse content.

Tech giants, which already invest in solar and wind energy, are seeking additional clean energy sources amid rising pressures to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions while growing AI-related offerings. These emissions contribute to heat retention in the atmosphere, exacerbating global temperature increases. According to Goldman Sachs, a typical query on OpenAI’s ChatGPT requires nearly ten times more electricity to process than a Google search. Analysts from the firm project that the power necessary to operate data centers, which support various tech services through large-scale computing, will increase by 160% by 2030. The total electricity consumption of data centers could exceed 1, 000 terawatt-hours by 2026, more than doubling the figures from 2022, based on estimates from the International Energy Agency. Amazon's announcement garnered appreciation from lawmakers and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm as the U. S. targets complete reliance on clean electricity by 2035. In July, Amazon revealed it had achieved its goal of powering its global operations, including data centers, with 100% renewable energy in 2023, seven years ahead of its initial 2030 deadline.