Tech's New Energy. Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, and Alphabet-unit Google signed a pledge
Wednesday to triple the global nuclear power supply by 2050.
The tech behemoths said they had added their names to the World Nuclear Association’s “Large Energy Users Pledge,” which envisions at least tripling global nuclear capacity from current levels by 2050. Nuclear energy currently provides around 9% of the world’s electricity from about 440 power reactors.
Other founding signatories included Dow and Occidental Petroleum. Shares of nuclear companies Vistra, Constellation Energy, and Oklo gained on the news, closing up 6.6%, 3.3%, and 2.8%, respectively, on Wednesday. GE Vernova, a leading provider of sustainable energy, was up 5.1%.
The pledge debuted at the World Nuclear Symposium in September 2023, and has since amassed the support of 31 countries, 140 nuclear companies, and 14 major global banks. Just last year, it won the backing of Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.
The official document from the World Nuclear Association notes that energy demand is expected to “increase significantly” in the coming years to support growing economies.
“Large energy users often depend on the availability of abundant energy for their successful and cost-competitive operations, and that nuclear energy can provide round-the-clock energy independently of the weather, the season or the geographical location,” the pledge states.
Wednesday wasn’t the first time companies such as Meta showed an interest in nuclear energy. In December, the Facebook and Instagram parent issued a call to energy developers, seeking “to identify nuclear energy developers to help us meet our AI and sustainability objectives.”
Meta said it was targeting an additional one to four gigawatts of new nuclear-generation capacity in the U.S., to be delivered at the start of the next decade.
While much of the ramping demand for energy is attributed to artificial intelligence and data centers, this is a narrow view, considering demand is increasing worldwide. A growing global population requires more energy, as do developing economies.
Nuclear is also attractive to companies striving to meet climate goals. It is the world’s second-largest source of low-carbon power, behind hydroelectric power. Amazon, for one, aims to be net-zero carbon by 2040.
Among the countries included in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, nuclear-power generation increased 2.9% in November 2024 from a year prior, according to the International Energy Agency.
Despite this, nuclear stocks trade on AI-related news. Companies such as Constellation Energy and Vistra have benefited from the AI boom, enjoying a higher public profile as large tech companies expound their plans to construct data centers.
This association has proven to be both a blessing and a curse for nuclear stocks, as they now have an element of volatility usually associated with tech stocks. As of Tuesday’s close, Vistra stock had a 52-week price range of $59.93 to $199.84, while Constellation stock ranged from $155.60 to $352.
Stiff competition has forced some companies to take a different route. Oklo, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based start-up chaired by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, owns its own nuclear-power plants, and sells power directly to customers.
It seems there is room for everyone, as corporations and governments alike work to find a solution. “By ensuring that nuclear and other energy sources have equal access to finance, governments can enable nuclear capacity deployment at scale worldwide,” the pledge reads.
The document calls on governments to sign the declaration to triple nuclear capacity by 2050, “thereby demonstrating their commitment to work together to achieve this goal.”
