Meta, parent company of Facebook and Instagram, disclosed an ambitious deal with three nuclear energy providers to support its all-in position on artificial intelligence, CNBC reported.
Throughout 2025, Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg went full-throttle on AI infrastructure and investments. He's ostensibly in pursuit of what he calls AI "superintelligence."
In April, Meta announced plans to purchase energy from a solar farm, but the company's Llama 4 release that month fell short of expectations. In the following months, insiders characterized Zuckerberg's focus as unstructured and motivated by fear of falling behind competitors.
Overall, 2025 was a whirlwind year in Silicon Valley as AI drove a building and spending frenzy. As the year progressed, however, the general public's view of this nascent, promising technology dimmed for several reasons.
That Meta's latest AI endeavor is energy-related is unsurprising: AI's vast demand for power wreaked havoc on utilities in the U.S. AI data centers became contentious as they multiplied rapidly, drawing sustained, bipartisan pushback from diverse communities.
Data centers are controversial, generating noise and air pollution to power resource-hungry AI applications. Increased energy demand driven by data centers has raised electric bills nationwide.
TCD Picks » Upway Spotlight
💡Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands
At the same time, investors and analysts have floated the possibility of a catastrophic "AI bubble." That's the idea that frantic overinvestment in the technology has set the stage for an economic crash — a possibility Google CEO Sundar Pichai wouldn't rule out.
In short, funders and families alike are vocally questioning whether AI's juice is "worth the squeeze." That concern is brought up each time ordinary citizens receive a newly sky-high utility bill. Investing in nuclear energy could be a way for Meta to defray those percolating tensions.
According to CNBC, Meta inked deals with Vistra, TerraPower, and Oklo, firms "working on nuclear power technologies," to provide power for its new "Prometheus supercluster" in New Albany, Ohio.
Ohio is one of four states expected to experience the strongest impacts from data center growth. The Prometheus supercluster will feature a "complex" of data centers. Zuckerberg pledged "hundreds of billions of dollars" to building out AI infrastructure.
TCD Picks » Quince Spotlight
💡These best-sellers from Quince deliver affordable, sustainable luxury for all
|
What's your biggest concern about nuclear energy?
Click your choice to see results and speak your mind. |
The possibility of meltdowns ☢️ Meta's Chief Global Affairs Officer, Joel Kaplan, framed Meta's nuclear energy deal as critical to Meta's profits and the United States' position as a tech leader on the world stage.
"State-of-the-art data centers and AI infrastructure are essential to securing America's position as a global leader in AI," Kaplan asserted in a statement, as reported by CNBC.
Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips to save more, waste less, and make smarter choices — and earn up to $5,000 toward clean upgrades in TCD's exclusive Rewards Club.
Cool Picks
