nuclear-news

Microsoft Looks to Nuclear to Fuel AI Plans, (with help from nuclear front group Terra Praxis)

Microsoft goes nuclear to deal with energy influx due to the meteoritic rise of its AI platforms.

tech.co by Abby Ward, January 25, 2024,

Microsoft is looking to fuel its future AI plans with nuclear, according to a recent moves by the company.

AI notoriously requires huge amounts of energy on a daily basis, and with more and more of us using it, and companies investing heavily in the technology, the scramble for power is ramping up.

With Microsoft throwing its weight (and money) behind AI, including huge investments in OpenAI, it seems nuclear power could be the key to its success………………………………

Due to the explosive arrival of AI, consuming a whopping four times more power than cloud servers, Microsoft appears to be preparing for this increased demand to power their data centers as they continue to accelerate their growth plans in the AI arena.

Among other signs that Microsoft will be looking to nuclear power to plan for the shortfall in energy is the appointment of a Director of Nuclear Development Acceleration last week.

Data Center Energy Shortfall

Data centers, the things that physically store and share applications and data, require an enormous amount of energy to run……………………

To put the size of the problem into perspective, McKinsey wrote that a hyperscaler’s data center can use as much power as 80,000 households do.

In the same article, McKinsey forecasted that the power needed to facilitate US data centers are set to jump from 17 gigawatts (GW) in 2022 to 35 GW by 2030………………………………………

A recent collaboration between Microsoft and Terra Praxis, a non-profit advocating for repurposing old coal plants into SMR facilities, further underlines the company’s nuclear ambitions. According to reports from Data Center Dynamics, together, they developed a generative AI model to streamline the lengthy and costly nuclear regulatory process, showcasing Microsoft’s commitment to making nuclear power a viable option for its data centers…………………………………..

Microsoft’s foray into nuclear power is bound to raise eyebrows and concerns about safety and waste disposal will need to be addressed in due course………………………………
https://tech.co/news/microsoft-nuclear-fuel-a

January 28, 2024 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | ENERGY, technology, USA