Meta goes nuclear to power its Prometheus AI supercluster

Meta is making a bold energy bet to keep its AI ambitions alive. The company announced on Friday new agreements with three nuclear power providers: Vistra, TerraPower, and Oklo, to secure the massive electricity supply needed to run its upcoming Prometheus AI supercluster in Ohio.

The data center under construction in New Albany is central to Mark Zuckerberg’s push to build advanced artificial intelligence systems. He first teased Prometheus last July, calling it a cornerstone of Meta’s long-term AI strategy. The company expects the system to go live in 2026, though it will take years of sustained energy output to keep it running at full capacity.

“Today, we’re announcing landmark agreements that will extend and expand the operation of three nuclear power plants, boost the development of new advanced nuclear technology, and foster job growth in several American communities,” the company’s statement said.

That’s where nuclear power enters the picture.

Meta says the combined projects could add up to 6.6 gigawatts of electricity by 2035 — more than New Hampshire’s total energy demand. The scale underscores how power-hungry modern AI infrastructure has become.

“State-of-the-art data centers and AI infrastructure are essential to securing America’s position as a global leader in AI,” Meta policy chief Joel Kaplan said in a statement.

Under the deals, Meta will help fund Vistra’s existing nuclear plants in Ohio and Pennsylvania, extending their lifespan and boosting output. TerraPower and Oklo are still building their facilities, with timelines stretching into the next decade.

Meta expects the projects to generate thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent roles once operational. For a company under pressure to show real-world economic impact, the employment angle matters.

This push fits a larger pattern. Big Tech firms are scrambling for clean, reliable energy as AI workloads surge. Meta, Amazon, and Google signed a pledge earlier this year to support a tripling of global nuclear energy production by 2050. In June, Meta signed a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy to purchase nuclear power from the Clinton Clean Energy Center in Illinois, starting in 2027, CNBC reported.

The new partnerships go deeper. TerraPower, founded by Bill Gates, plans to bring two nuclear projects online by 2032. Meta could later secure rights to energy from up to six more sites expected to launch by 2035. Oklo, which focuses on advanced nuclear reactors, aims to open its Ohio campus as early as 2030.

There’s a familiar name behind Oklo. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman owns a 4.3% stake, worth roughly $650 million. The company went public in 2024 through an SPAC co-founded by Altman. He stepped down as chairman in April to avoid conflicts while Oklo courts customers that compete with OpenAI.

Meta’s endgame goes beyond cheaper electricity. The company has been vocal about its long-term goal: building superintelligence, a form of AI that could outperform humans across a wide range of tasks. That future demands enormous computing resources — and a stable energy backbone to match.

Silicon Valley once chased server racks. Now it’s chasing power plants.