Ctg sit23 hub banner.jpg

Microsoft looking to build global nuclear infrastructure for AI datacentres

Nuclear could 'rescue datacentres from energy shortage'

Microsoft is seeking to invest in Small Modular Reactor, which are distinct from the old style pictured

Image:

Microsoft is seeking to invest in Small Modular Reactor, which are distinct from the old style pictured

Politicians and economists expect AI to rescue the world from economic stagnation - if only datacentres could get enough energy.

Microsoft is planning to build the global nuclear energy infrastructure to run datacentres housing the systems for artificial intelligence, according to a new job advert.

Just days after former UK prime minister Gordon Brown joined with leading economists to declare that AI would bring such an increase in business productivity that it would rescue the world from economic stagnation, Microsoft has moved to hire someone to build the energy infrastructure it needs.

Microsoft's advert quoted CEO Satya Nadella declaring AI to be the "next wave of computing."

The software giant is seeking an expert in nuclear energy regulation who can project manage the construction of Small Modular Nuclear reactors (SMRs). These are designed to feed specific local and industrial power needs, cheaply and safely.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates himself heads an SMR firm. But the sector faces obstacles from regulations designed for a very different breed of reactor: the enormous, dangerous old style, responsible for disasters like Chernobyl.

Tom Kingham, director of engineering solutions at global datacentre operator CyrusOne, said Microsoft was forcing the energy landscape to change. Modern datacenters need constant, reliable power - power they can't get from wind or solar.

"They realise they [Microsoft] have the clout, and they have the need," he said. "That's brilliant for the digital infrastructure economy because we are all going to find ourselves keeping up with insatiable digital without having reliable power."

Kingham said Microsoft had been leading the way with its investment in diverse energy generation. It had even bought power purchasing agreements with Helion, a company that had yet to deliver any power because it was working on "the Holy Grail of energy": nuclear fusion.

"That's even more way out there," he said.

Microsoft has invested heavily in green initiatives, and can be considered a leader in the green cloud - especially compared to other tech giants like Amazon and Google.

While recent Computing research positioned Amazon towards the bottom of cloud sustainability, and Microsoft at the top, both companies are investigating how to decarbonise datacentres. They are even looking at green steel and concrete, which are responsible for huge amounts of embedded carbon.

And they aren't alone. Smaller firms like Carbon3IT and Virtus are looking closely at datacentre sustainability.

Computing will continue to explore the tech industry's climate efforts at an upcoming event next year - stay tuned for more details.

Microsoft looking to build global nuclear infrastructure for AI datacentres

Nuclear could 'rescue datacentres from energy shortage'

Politicians and economists expect AI to rescue the world from economic stagnation - if only datacentres could get enough energy.

Finance

ChatGPT maker OpenAI could lose $5bn in 2024, report

Corporate

CrowdStrike outage to cost $44m per Fortune 500 company, report

Threats and Risks

CrowdStrike: Thousands of typosquatting domains registered after global outage