Big techs are betting big on nuclear energy. The idea was driven by Helion, a company launched in 2013 and backed by Y Combinator in 2014. The startup worked on the world’s first fusion power plant, which is the way the Sun makes power, enabling a future with unlimited zero-carbon electricity. In 2015, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman displayed immense interest in the startup and has since been the biggest proponent of Helion and nuclear energy.
In 2021, Altman led a $0.5 billion Series E, with an additional $1.7 billion of commitments tied to specific milestones. In 2023, entered Microsoft, having shown a great interest in Altman’s OpenAI, and signed a power purchase agreement with Helion to buy electricity from it in 2028.
Microsoft is not the only big tech company to have shown interest in the future of nuclear energy.
After YC-backed Helion, in the same year, Google partnered with TAE Technologies, another startup working on nuclear fusion power technology, to support it with AI and computational power. Last year, Google and Chevron were part of $250 million in funding for TAE.
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