The company that owns Facebook, Instagram and Threads has confirmed its intention to use nuclear energy for its facilities in the United States. Meta is seeking proposals from nuclear energy developers to work on the project. They aim to generate between one and four gigawatts of nuclear power by the beginning of the next decade.
Its official announcement states that:
“We are looking for developers with extensive experience in community engagement, development, permitting and implementation who have opportunities to develop new nuclear energy resources, whether small modular reactors or larger nuclear reactors.”
Why does Meta need so much energy that they have decided to build nuclear reactors? Simple, the development of artificial intelligence. The company points out that to achieve their “innovation goals” in the field of AI, they need the energy generated by these future reactors.
The company explains that “as new innovations bring impactful technological advances across all sectors and support economic growth, we believe nuclear power can help provide firm, baseload power to support the growth needs of power grids.” that power both our data centers and the communities that surround them”
But Meta is not the only company that has opted for the nuclear route in the race, which is the development of artificial intelligence technologies. Both Google and Microsoft have announced in the past their plans to build nuclear plants with the intention of facilitating and accelerating the development of their AI technologies.
It remains to be seen the effect that these developments will have on both the technology industry and their possible environmental impact.
Via: Meta
