Microsoft reportedly planning to use nuclear energy to power its AI data centers

Microsoft is considering the utilisation of nuclear energy to supply power to its AI data centres in response to the substantial energy demands associated with running models like ChatGPT. As indicated in a recent job posting, the company is in the process of recruiting a "principal program manager for nuclear technology" to evaluate the feasibility of employing nuclear energy to support the data centres hosting AI models.

As reported initially by CNBC, Microsoft's focus appears to be on leveraging microreactors and Small Modular Reactors, which are more cost-effective to construct and operate compared to larger nuclear reactors, in order to "sustain the data centres that house the Microsoft Cloud and AI infrastructure."

AI models necessitate an immense amount of computational power for their operations, with assessments revealing that running ChatGPT could potentially incur costs of up to $700,000 per day due to significant server expenses. The job posting indicates that Microsoft views nuclear energy as a viable solution to address this escalating energy demand.

Microsoft is known to have entered into a $10 billion agreement with OpenAI, the developers of ChatGPT, wherein Microsoft provided cloud services to facilitate the operation of OpenAI's models. Furthermore, Microsoft has integrated OpenAI's technology into its Bing search engine, introducing an AI-powered search tool earlier this year.

There is growing concern regarding the environmental consequences associated with the substantial energy consumption of generative AI. Academic analyses have estimated that training GPT-3 resulted in over 550 tons of carbon dioxide emissions and required 3.5 million litres of water.

Microsoft has recently committed to accelerating its endeavours to power data centres with renewable energy sources and reduce emissions. The company has set ambitious goals to make its business carbon negative, water positive, and achieve zero waste status by 2030.

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