Google may be the next tech giant to embrace nuclear energy for its data centers, CEO Sundar Pichai has revealed.
Pichai, who has been with Google since 2004, told Nikkei in a recent interview that the company is looking to invest more in clean energy to achieve net-zero emission goals by 2030.
To meet this demand and its climate goals, Pichai indicated that the company is looking to increase the use of traditional renewables and nuclear.
“We are now looking at additional investments, be it solar, and evaluating technologies like small modular nuclear reactors, etc,” the Google executive said.
The company’s climate targets have appeared more out of reach because of the vast power demanded by generative artificial intelligence. The company has pointed to the technology as a driver for greater emissions, as Google’s level of greenhouse gasses was about 48% higher in 2023 than it was in 2019.
“It was a very ambitious target, and we are still going to be working very ambitiously towards it,” Pichai said, “Obviously, the trajectory of AI investments has added to the scale of the task needed.”
These AI data centers are expected to place a greater strain on the national grid in the coming years as energy demand outpaces renewable energy production and traditional power sources such as coal decrease. The Electric Power Research Institute estimates that, by 2030, data centers could consume more than 9% of all electricity generated nationwide — more than double what it uses now.
Pichai, who outlined the company’s intentions while in Tokyo, did not say where Google would source the nuclear power or when it would aim to start using the energy.
However, there is a strong possibility that the company will pursue nuclear power within the United States, as two other tech giants have moved to use nuclear energy in the AI race.
Earlier this year, Amazon revealed it had entered an agreement with Talen Energy to purchase the decades-old Susquehanna nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. The plant is expected to provide Amazon and its data centers with up to 960 megawatts of power — enough to support around 1 million homes.
Most recently, Constellation Energy announced a purchase agreement with Microsoft, saying the company is looking to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Three Mile Island is the site of the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history and would be the first nuclear plant to come back online for the purpose of powering data centers.
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Constellation Energy is reportedly looking to secure $1.6 billion in federal funding to finance the reopening of the plant, according to the Washington Post. The company is seeking to bring the nuclear site back online by 2028, but is subject to approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
As of Tuesday, the NRC told the Washington Examiner that Constellation Energy had not yet filed an application for approval for the site.