AI bidding war: Oracle goes nuclear to power a data center dedicated to Nvidia

In a context where the price of electricity is constantly rising and where climate change is no longer in doubt, how can we continue to “reasonably” power this ever more power-hungry technology that is artificial intelligence? For Oracle, the solution is none other than nuclear power. In any case, the firm has obtained the right to build three small modular reactors (SMRs) to power future data centers dedicated to AI.

A solution that remains to be validated

Although these are only small nuclear reactors of reasonable power, generally used in warships, Oracle will now have to obtain authorization to use them. Between securing the hazardous materials necessary for their operation and the safety standards to be respected in the areas where these reactors will be installed, nothing has been done yet.

If this were to come to fruition, however, it could be an “economical” and “ecological” way to fuel Oracle's ambitions, especially since this type of reactor can be mass-produced. However, between authorizations and construction, the arrival of the first PRMs dedicated to AI should not take place before 2030 at the earliest. And what if by then the artificial intelligence fad were to run out of steam?

Oracle believes in AI and nuclear power

During the last quarterly earnings call, the founder, executive chairman and CTO of the firm, Larry Ellison, did not seem to think about it and declared: “Oracle has 162 cloud data centers, both active and under construction, around the world. The largest of these data centers consumes 800 megawatts and will contain acres of Nvidia GPU clusters capable of training the world's largest AI models.“Confident, he adds: “Soon, Oracle will begin building data centers with a capacity of more than one gigawatt.“