Google invests in nuclear power for its data centres
Starting in 2030, government-owned utility the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is set to purchase up to 50 megawatts of power from Kairos Power's Hermes 2 reactor located in the state of Tennessee.
In addition to Tennessee, the reactor is due to also help power Google's data centres in the state of Alabama. The companies stated TVA is the first US utility to sign a purchase power agreement to buy electricity from an advanced nuclear reactor.
Hermes 2 is also the first deployment under an agreement Google and Kairos Power inked in 2024 to launch the start-up's nuclear technology at a commercial scale to bring 500 megawatts of capacity online by 2035 to support the tech giant's load growth.
Amanda Peterson Corio, Google's global head of Data Centre Energy, said the partnership would 'accelerate the deployment of innovative nuclear technologies and help support the needs of our growing digital economy while also bringing firm carbon-free energy to the electricity system'.
She noted lessons from the development and operation of the Hermes 2 plant would 'help drive down the cost of future reactors, improving the economics of clean firm power generation in the TVA region and beyond'.
The increasing use of generative AI is putting a strain on the US electrical grid as companies including Google, OpenAI, Microsoft and xAI require massive amounts of power to train their models.
Last month, Google reached agreements with two US electricity companies to reduce its AI data centre energy consumption during spikes in demand on the grid.
Source: Mobile World Live
Image Credit: Stock Image
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Etihad
3 hours ago
- Al Etihad
Google unveils latest Pixel phones packed with AI
21 Aug 2025 00:32 NEW YORK (AFP) Google on Wednesday unveiled new Pixel 10 smartphones that promise more artificial intelligence capabilities, as it seeks to elbow out competition in the emerging AI-assistant Jimmy Fallon hosted a launch event in Brooklyn that blended Google product pitches with stars such as The Jonas Brothers band and Stephen Curry of the Golden Gate Warriors basketball line-up of new products included a foldable phone, improved Pixel smartwatch, and ear buds all synced to work with AI and each phones claim a scant portion of a high-end smartphone market ruled by Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi, but custom Google hardware is an opportunity for the internet giant to highlight what is possible with its Android mobile operating system and the Gemini AI is not the only one putting AI in phones. South Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made AI a centerpiece of its Galaxy smartphone line and recently released a new Galaxy Z product team described the new Pixel Watch 4 as a redesigned experience that marks the biggest update to the include smartwatch fitness tracking fine-tuned to distinguish between activities such as walking, bicycling, or tennis. The Pixel Watch also enables users to command Gemini AI assistant from one's detects the mood of whoever is speaking to it and adjusts its responses accordingly, and can even "look" through the phone camera to offer photo suggestions, according to the Google was also used to add 100x telephoto lens capability to Pixel smartphone camera. Pixel 10 prices start at $799, with the Pixel Pro Fold model starting at $1,799.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Fed minutes: Inflation outweighs employment concerns in divided decision
Federal Reserve officials were concerned in July about the effect that tariffs would have on inflation and unemployment, although minutes released from the meeting showed on Wednesday that a large majority found it too soon to begin cutting interest rates. The minutes underscored the division within the central bank, which voted to maintain its target interest rate range at 4.25 to 4.50 per cent despite two Fed officials voting to reduce the rate. The UAE Central Bank, which follows the Fed's decisions due to the dollar peg, also maintained rates after the announcement on July 30. The July meeting minutes showed 'almost all' Fed officials supported the decision. US President Donald Trump's tariff agenda has weighed heavily on the Fed this year. Officials entered last month's meeting debating whether tariffs would have a greater impact on inflation, which still remains above the Fed's 2 per cent target, or on its employment mandate. The minutes appeared to suggested that Fed governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman – two Trump appointments reported to be in consideration as the next Fed chief – were alone in their dissent. 'A majority of participants judged the upside risk to inflation as the greater of these two risks, while several participants viewed the two risks as roughly balanced, and a couple of participants considered downside risk to employment the more salient risk,' the minutes read. Fed chairman Jerome Powell delivered a hawkish sentiment when speaking to reporters after the decision, suggesting that the Fed could continue to delay cutting rates as it awaited further clarity on how tariffs would affect inflation. 'When we have risks to both goals, and one of them is farther away from goal than the other, and that's inflation, that means policy should be tight, because tight policy is what brings inflation down,' Mr Powell said at the time. A dismal jobs report released two days after the meeting drastically changed the rate-cut calculus expected to play out later this year. The report showed that not only had employers added fewer jobs than expected in July, but significant downwards revisions from previous months pointed to signs of a weakening labour market. Adding to the mixed messages the Fed has received, underlying inflation data has also come in hotter than expected since July. The report from the Bureau of Labour and Statistics showed that prices for imported items such as household furnishing, apparel and recreational goods all increased last month, while medical care services and airfare prices were also higher than previous. Wholesale inflation data also saw its biggest increase in three years in July, in another sign that companies are raising their prices to offset higher costs. Those reports have done little to dent expectations of a September rate cut, however. About 83 per cent of traders believe the Fed will resuming cutting rates next month, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, before reducing policy again in December. 'The labour market will be the swing factor on whether the Fed cuts interest rates in September or not,' Oxford Economics chief US economist Ryan Sweet wrote to clients. The minutes come at a crucial time for Mr Powell, who is due to deliver a keynote address at the annual Jackson Hole symposium in Wyoming on Friday. Mr Powell will deliver the highly anticipated speech under pressure on several fronts from Mr Trump, the two dissenting Fed governors and the looming arrival of a key Trump ally to the Federal Reserve board. Friday's address during the annual gathering, attended by central bankers from around the world, is expected to include Mr Powell's short-term and long-term views on monetary policy. Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Trump opened a new line of attack on the US central bank, calling for the resignation of Fed governor Lisa Cook after one of his allies accused her of mortgage fraud. Ms Cook's term as Fed governor expires in 2038. Together they, along with a rotating group of regional fed bank presidents, make up the Federal Open Market Committee that sets its interest rates. The move follows a pattern of attempts by Mr Trump to exert control of the Fed, whose independence is generally considered sacrosanct among economists and policymakers
Zawya
4 hours ago
- Zawya
Trump calls on Fed Governor Cook to resign
U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign, intensifying his effort to gain influence over the central bank on the basis of allegations made by one of his allies about mortgages Cook holds in Michigan and Georgia. U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte alleged in a post on X earlier on Wednesday that Cook had designated a condo in Atlanta as her primary residence after taking a loan on her home in Michigan, which she also declared as a primary residence. Loans for a primary residence can carry easier terms than for second homes or investment properties. Pulte said the loans date to mid-2021, before Cook was appointed to the Fed by former President Joe Biden and confirmed by the Senate the following year. She is a native of Georgia and at the time was an economics professor at Michigan State University. Pulte asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate, and Trump quickly amplified the allegation. The Justice Department was taking the matter very seriously, a department official told Reuters. Spokespersons for the Fed and for Cook did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "Cook must resign, now!!!" Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform, his latest remarks aimed at reshaping the make-up of the U.S. central bank, a body designed to set benchmark interest rates independent of White House influence. Cook is one of three Biden appointees to the Fed whose terms extend beyond Trump's time in office, complicating the president's efforts to get more control by appointing a majority of its seven-member board. Currently two of the Fed's remaining six board members were appointed by Trump, Governor Christopher Waller and Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman. Trump has repeatedly blasted Fed Chair Jerome Powell over benchmark rates that he wants sharply reduced, calling for his resignation while acknowledging that the Fed's unique status in U.S. governance prevents him from firing Fed board members over monetary policy disputes. Trump can name a new chair when Powell's term ends in May, but claiming a majority on the board may take more time. Powell could continue serving as a governor until 2028, near the end of Trump's term, should he buck convention and continue sitting on the board under a new chair. Until Powell's departure, Trump at this point has only one other seat to fill, vacated recently by the surprise resignation of former Governor Adriana Kugler. Earlier this month Trump nominated Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to serve out the rest of her term. (Reporting by Susan Heavey and Howard Schneider; Additional reporting by Dan Burns and Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
