Meta's Nuclear-Powered AI Data Center Plans Halted by Rare Bee Species

Meta's nuclear-powered AI data center plans stung by rare bee swarm

However, according to the Financial Times (FT), environmental concerns related to these rare bees halted the project. The bees were found on the land intended for Meta's data center. Their presence added a layer of complexity to the project, as Zuckerberg reportedly shared at a company meeting. This hurdle is the latest example of environmental concerns intersecting with high-tech projects, especially as technology firms seek eco-friendly, sustainable energy sources to power AI -- a sector with massive energy needs. AI needs fuel search for carbon-free energy sources The planned data center was part of Meta's strategy to expand its AI capabilities. Like other tech giants, Meta is actively pursuing carbon-free energy sources to support its AI infrastructure, which requires far more power than traditional data centers. Nuclear power has emerged as a strong candidate for this purpose, offering a carbon-neutral energy solution. Meta, however, faces a critical shortage of data center capacity to meet rising demands. "Our computer needs outstrip our available data center capacity right now," Meta CFO Susan Li noted during a recent earnings call, as reported by FT. The delay caused by environmental issues only deepens this gap.

Meta's plan for nuke-powered AI data center thwarted by bees

The humble bumblebee has played a part in obstructing an ambitious construction project by Meta, according to a Financial Times (FT) report. The Mark Zuckerberg-led tech giant has apparently had to abandon a plan to build a nuclear-powered AI data center partly because a rare bee species has been found on the land where the facility would've been built. Recommended Videos Meta, like other tech behemoths such as Google, Amazon, and Microsoft, is looking to harness nuclear power to run its new energy-hungry data centers that are being built to propel their AI plans. The FT said that Meta was hoping to partner with an existing operator of a nuclear energy facility for a new plant that would help to power its proposed data center, but that "multiple complications including environmental and regulatory challenges" have forced the tech company to think again. Intent on seeing the project through, Meta is believed to still be considering various deals for carbon-free energy that would involve construction work in a different location, presumably one without any rare bees buzzing around nearby. Processing data for generative-AI products requires enormous amounts of energy, prompting major tech firms to ink deals with nuclear power companies to supply their needs cleanly and efficiently. Google announced just last month that it had inked a deal with nuclear energy startup Kairos Power to purchase 500 megawatts of "new 24/7 carbon-free power" from seven of the company's small modular reactors (SMRs), with initial delivery from the first SMR expected in 2030 followed by a full rollout by 2035. "The grid needs new electricity sources to support AI technologies that are powering major scientific advances, improving services for businesses and customers, and driving national competitiveness and economic growth," Michael Terrell, Google's senior director of Energy and Climate, wrote in a blog post announcing the deal. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone." Additionally, Microsoft announced in September that it's working to restart a unit at New York's Three Mile Island as part of a plan to power its own AI data centers.

Meta's plans to build a new, nuclear-powered data center for AI fell through because of rare bees

Meta's plans for an AI data center were disrupted by an unusual culprit -- rare bees. The tech giant helmed by Mark Zuckerberg was in the process of hammering out a deal with the operator of a nuclear power plant that would have provided electricity for a new data center. However, the deal ran into environmental issues, according to the Financial Times. The presence of a rare species of bees found on the land where the project was supposed to be built complicated matters, Zuckerberg said at a company meeting last week, the FT reported. The new data center was supposed to have been dedicated toward Meta's new and ongoing artificial intelligence projects. Many tech companies, including Meta, have been looking for carbon-free sources of power for their data centers because AI requires far more energy than previous forms of computing. One of the most promising candidates of new green energy is nuclear power. Meanwhile, the company's needs for data centers amid its AI push remain underserved. "Our compute needs outstrip our available data center capacity right now," Meta CFO Susan Li said during a July earnings call. Meta did not respond to a request for comment and declined to comment to the FT. For AI developers, nuclear power remains one of the more promising possibilities for energy. In the U.S., nuclear power is less favored than other forms of energy production. However, in recent years the advent of AI and the push to develop additional sources of energy that can be carbon neutral thrust nuclear power back into the conversation. That's led to something of a nuclear bonanza among Big Tech companies, many of which have expressed interest in nuclear power to fuel their artificial intelligence ambitions. Microsoft signed a deal with Constellation Energy to restart the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. Three Mile Island was shut down in 1979 after a partial meltdown in one of its reactors that remains the most significant nuclear accident in U.S. history. Microsoft will buy energy from the rebooted plant for 20 years. Constellation expects to spend $1.6 billion to get the plant back up and running. Constellation was also supposed to provide power to another Meta competitor in Amazon. However, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission rejected a proposal to allow Amazon to draw additional power for one of its data centers. Amazon is also planning to invest in another version of the technology called small modular nuclear reactors. Last month, Google already secured several modular reactors of its own when it signed a deal with Kairos Power to purchase between six and seven such reactors. Tech companies have been forced to look to new sources of energy for their AI research and development because it requires orders of magnitude more power than normal computing. Training for a large language model like GPT-3 uses roughly the same amount of energy as 130 U.S. homes. A single prompt on an AI chatbot can take up to 10 times as much power as a regular Google search. Meta has invested huge amounts into powering its AI ambitions. In the third quarter of this year, Meta invested $9.2 billion of capex on "servers, data centers and network infrastructure," Zuckerberg said on an earnings call last week. Had this latest project not been interrupted, Meta would have been the first major tech firm to have nuclear-powered AI, Zuckerberg told employees at the meeting, the FT reported.

Meta's Data Center Expansion Hits an Unexpected Roadblock: Bees

Bees could play a surprisingly important role in Big Tech's A.I. data center ambitions. Like its Big Tech rivals, Meta (META) has been on a voracious spending spree lately to build data centers to power its A.I. ambition. But the Mark Zuckerberg-helmed company recently ran into an unusual problem: bees. Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter Sign Up Thank you for signing up! By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime. See all of our newsletters Meta had reportedly been planning on establishing a new nuclear-powered data center in the U.S., but the company's deal came to an end amid environmental and regulatory issues that included the discovery of a rare bee species on the project's land, according to the Financial Times, which noted that Zuckerberg reportedly told staffers at an all-hands meeting last week that the bees would have complicated the proposed center. Meta did not respond to requests for comment from Observer. This isn't the first time endangered bees have played a role in Meta's data center efforts. When the company in 2016 began building a data center in County Meath, Ireland, Meta became a supporter of the All-Ireland Pollinator Plan from the country's National Biodiversity Data Centre. The plan acts as a framework urging communities, businesses and authorities to help restore Ireland's pollinator levels, which are largely dependent on wild bees that face extinction across one-third of its species. After discovering that it could "potentially contribute to the plan and help reverse the decline of bees in the community," Meta began adding plants, shrubs and trees to its County Meath data center location to feed the bees and implemented a beekeeping program on-site to oversee ten hives and some half a million bees. "The biggest way that we can influence biodiversity is by the people who own land," Michelle Wallace, the director of operations at Host in Ireland, an initiative representing the digital infrastructure and data center community, told Observer. Host in Ireland drew from the National Biodiversity Data Centre's expertise four years ago to launch an industry-wide "DCs for Bees" pollinator plan urging the data center sector to become more pollinator-friendly. Besides its efforts in Ireland, Meta has additionally installed beehives across offices in Seattle and New York and established more than 30 acres of pollinator habitat at a data center site in Gallatin, Tenn. The company is expected to ramp up its spending and construct more data centers to meet its lofty A.I. goals, with capital expenditures for 2024 to reach $38 billion to $40 billion. Meta's halted data center project would have been powered by nuclear power Like its competitors, Meta is also reportedly considering nuclear energy partners as it seeks out carbon-free ways to support its power-intensive A.I. data centers. ChatGPT queries consume nearly ten times as much energy as Google (GOOGL) searches, according to a recent Goldman Sachs report that predicted data center power demands will grow by 160 percent by the end of the decade. To offset a rise in emissions, Amazon (AMZN) and Google last month unveiled deals with small modular reactor (SMR) developers, which provide next-generation nuclear plant designs. In August, Microsoft (MSFT) announced plans to purchase power from nuclear plant Three Mile Island in Middletown, Penn., which is expected to reopen one of its units in 2028. Meta's recently thwarted data center project in the U.S. would have been powered by an existing nuclear power plant operator, as reported the Financial Times, which cited people familiar with the plan. According to the outlet, Zuckerberg told Meta employees that the now-scuppered deal would have made Meta the first Big Tech company to provide nuclear-powered A.I. While the bee species discovery may have halted Meta's timeline, the project's interruption is a positive indicator that biodiversity needs are being considered by the data center sector, said Wallace. Meta's pausing of its project is "amazing," she said. "Let there be more of that. It's about being really sensitive to the environment that you're putting in -- no matter the building, no matter the use."

Bees reportedly stopped Meta from building a nuclear-powered AI data center

A rare bee species was discovered on the land earmarked for the project, says the Financial Times. Meta had plans to build an AI data center in the US that relies on nuclear power -- it even already knew where it wanted the facility to be built. According to the Financial Times, though, the company had to scrap its plans, because the a rare bee species was discovered on the land reserved for the project. Company chief Mark Zuckerberg was reportedly ready to close a deal with an existing nuclear power plant operator that would provide emissions-free energy to the plant. The Times said he told staff members at an all-hands last week that pushing through wouldn't have been possible, because the company would encounter numerous regulatory challenges due to the bees' discovery. Zuckerberg reportedly told his staff that Meta would've had the first nuclear-powered AI if the deal had gone ahead. It still might come true if the company could find a way, but it has to move quickly because its biggest rivals are investing in nuclear energy, as well. In September, Microsoft revealed that it intends to revive the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to provide energy for its AI efforts. Meanwhile, Google teamed up with startup Kairos Power to build seven small nuclear reactors in the US to power its data centers starting in 2030. And then there's Amazon, which announced three agreements with different companies to build small modular reactors in mid-October. The Times didn't say whether Meta is looking for a new site -- one that doesn't have rare bees living in its vicinity. One of its sources only said that Meta is still exploring various deals for emissions-free energy, including nuclear, to power its future AI data centers.

Endangered Bees Halt Meta's Nuclear-Powered AI Data Center Plans

Meta's plans to set up a nuclear-powered AI data center in the US have been halted in part because a rare bee species was found on the land, the Financial Times reports. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff about the issue in an all-hands meeting, according to sources familiar with the situation. The project has also faced other environmental and regulatory hurdles, and Meta is now looking for other ways to access carbon-free energy for its AI data centers. Zuckerberg previously said Meta would build bigger AI computing clusters if the company could get the electricity to do so, admitting that limited energy resources are the main bottleneck for AI expansion. Because AI uses a lot of electricity (and water), energy is one of its biggest challenges. Because of existing rules, adding new sources to US grids can take years, and utility firms may not want to add large, new power plants to their systems because of the challenges associated with the additions, MIT researcher and energy council member Robert Stoner previously told PCMag. A 2017 report from the Center for Biological Diversity found that there are 347 endangered bee species in North America and Hawaii. It noted that 90% of wild plants require pollinator activity in order to survive, meaning that disrupting bee habitats could result in not only extinct species but also a loss of plant life, which could further accelerate climate change. The 1973 Endangered Species Act currently only protects one species of endangered bee in the continental US: the Rusty Patched Bumblebee. While it's unclear which bee species has posed a challenge to Meta's nuclear plans, according to a map from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, there are only about 471 Rusty Patched Bumblebees left, and most of them are in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, and around the Virginia-West Virginia border. Meta's website currently lists nearly two dozen data centers worldwide, with the majority concentrated in the US. A map shows 26 data centers either completed or being built in addition to 75 different solar power locations, 21 wind power locations, and 25 "Water Restoration" projects. Meta isn't the only big tech firm eyeing nuclear power, though. Google has ordered six or seven small modular nuclear reactors from Kairos Power, and Microsoft has made plans to reopen Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania to power its AI plans.

Meta's plan for a new nuclear-powered AI datacenter was foiled by bees

TL;DR: Meta's plan to build a nuclear-powered data center was halted due to the discovery of a rare bee species on the proposed site, leading to environmental and regulatory issues. Despite this setback, Meta remains committed to finding a new location and clean energy source for its data center. Meta's plan to construct a nuclear-powered data center to support its exponentially growing AI ventures was foiled when a species of bees was discovered. According to a new report from The Financial Times, Meta was negotiating a deal with an owner of an already established nuclear power plant, but the deal fell apart due to environmental and regulatory problems. The deal was for the operator of the nuclear power plant to provide electricity to a presumably nearby soon-to-be-constructed data center. The publication didn't reveal the location of the proposed data center, or the nuclear power plant operator, but it did reveal a rare species of bees was discovered on the land the project was meant to be built. The FT report stated Mark Zuckerberg discussed this point at a company meeting last week, where he said the discovery of the bee species complicated the project, and contributed to the ultimate cancellation. The unfortunate setback for Meta won't stop the company from finding a new building location, along with a clean energy supply. With the rise in AI data centers and the incredible amounts of power needed to fuel them, nuclear power has been thrown back into the conversation as a viable solution. Further, nuclear energy has come back onto the table after being thought of as a dangerous source of energy. Amazon just announced it is investing big in nuclear energy as it believes it is the solution to the growing energy demands.

Meta's plan for nuclear datacenter reportedly undone by bees

Regulatory hurdles may also have contributed to the project's cancellation Meta's efforts to build a new nuclear-powered AI datacenter have come to an end after scientists found a rare species of bee on the proposed site. According to report by the Financial Times., the problem reportedly came to light when company CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the pollinators were present on the site during an all-hands meeting. Because the area must now be protected, building regulations have prevented the social media giant from getting access to the land, let alone its moral obligations not to displace the rare species. Besides the discovery of the important species, the Financial Times report cites two unnamed sources who believe further regulatory hurdles also contributed to the decision to terminate the plan. Specific details surrounding the location of the site have not been revealed. However, the bad news (or good news if you look at it from an environmental perspective) comes as Meta looks to seriously expand its infrastructure to keep up with the demand for AI tools. The California company expects to rack up $38 billion in capital expenses in 2024. AI and datacenter projects are likely to make up a large portion of that sum. By using nuclear energy, the proposed datacenter would have helped Meta reduce its carbon footprint. Although nuclear can be controversial, it's a carbon-free energy resource that's being explored by the likes of Microsoft and Amazon as part of a global effort to tackle the high energy demands of AI datacenters. Although there's always room for improvement, Meta proudly proclaimed in its 2024 Sustainability Report that it has maintained net zero greenhouse gas emissions since 2020, thanks in part to its 11,700MW portfolio of renewable energy. The report adds: "Meta designs and operates some of the most sustainable data centers in the industry... We approach data center sustainability from the ground up -- from design and construction to operations by prioritizing energy efficiency, renewable energy, water stewardship and responsibly managing the end of life of our equipment."

Meta's nuclear datacenter plan reportedly stung by bees

Environmental and regulatory obstacles led to the cancellation of an AI bit farm, report claims Meta's plan to build a nuclear-powered datacenter for AI workloads has been undone by bugs, specifically bees. CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees at an all-hands meeting that the discovery of a rare species of bees on the prospective build site had contributed to the cancellation of the datacenter project, according to The Financial Times. Meta is said to have been negotiating a deal with the operator of an existing nuclear power plant for emissions-free electricity to sustain a new AI-focused datacenter. But according to two sources cited in the report, environmental and regulatory hurdles stymied the deal. The report did not identify where the nixed datacenter site would have been located. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a clean energy research group, in 2018 launched a Power-In-Pollinators initiative to encourage energy companies to accommodate pollinators like bees and butterflies. Pollinators support agriculture and food production, so it's a bad look to kill them off for the sake of chatbots and AI-generated social media filler. Related projects have focused on habitat restoration at former nuclear sites. The EPRI Pollinator Stewardship Dashboard currently lists 295 sites operated by 19 participating energy firms that support pollinators. Meta did not respond to a request for comment. Amazon also has encountered obstacles in its effort to secure nuclear power for its datacenters. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on Friday issued an order that rejected a revised Interconnection Service Agreement (ISA) that aimed to provide more power to the Cumulus datacenter operated by Talen Energy. Rivals American Electric Power (AEP) and Exelon in June filed an objection on the ground that the proposed agreement with regional power grid operator PJM Interconnection would favor Talen at their expense. AI workloads require a tremendous amount of energy, so much so that the AI hyperscalers in the US have turned to nuclear power as a way to meet the increasing demand for energy production without burning fossil fuels. Microsoft in September struck a 20-year deal to purchase power from the idle Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, which would be operated under a name with less historical baggage, Crane Clean Energy Center, by Constellation Energy. Google last month announced a deal with Kairos Power to purchase energy produced by small modular reactors (SMRs). Oracle meanwhile said it had obtained building permits for three SMRs to power a datacenter with over a gigawatt of AI compute capacity. Meta in its recent earnings release raised its low-end guidance for 2024 capital expenditures by $1 billion - from $37 billion to $38 billion - while its top-end guidance remained at $40 billion. Much of that expense is intended for the build-out and provisioning of AI datacenters. ®

Rare bees kill Meta's nuclear-powered AI data center plans

Meta is one of several tech companies vying for a nuclear boost. Environmental regulators reportedly quashed Mark Zuckerberg's nuclear plant partnership meant to help power Meta's ongoing artificial intelligence projects. Details remain scarce, but the main reason for pausing plans allegedly comes down to one issue -- rare bees. The tech company's setback, first reported on November 4th by Financial Times, came after surveyors discovered the currently unspecified pollinators while reviewing land meant for a new AI data center. The selected area offered easy access to tap into the nearby, unspecified nuclear plant. Zuckerberg, however, confirmed the project's cancellation during a Meta all-hands meeting last week, according to FT. The company's CEO added that, prior to the termination, Meta was on track to become the first company using nuclear power for AI through the largest plant currently available for data center use. (Meta did not respond to requests for comment at the time of writing.) [Related: Massive AI energy demand is bringing Three Mile Island back from the dead.] Meta and many other tech companies continue to face energy crunches thanks to their recent AI investments. Earlier this year, Microsoft confirmed its greenhouse gas emissions rose an estimated 29 percent since 2020 due to new data centers specifically "designed and optimized to support AI workloads." Google has also calculated its own pollution generation has increased as much as 48 percent since 2019, largely because of data center energy needs. "As we further integrate AI into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging," Google researchers wrote in a July sustainability report. Critics, meanwhile, continue to voice concerns about these often controversial AI projects' staggering energy requirements. A single AI-integrated search query, for example, is estimated to require up to 10 times the energy of a standard Google search -- equivalent to keeping one light bulb on for 20 minutes. In response, tech companies have announced multiple plans in recent months that hinge on nuclear power. Microsoft currently aims to bring the infamous Three Mile Island plant back online for its AI needs, while Amazon is funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into a partnership with Pennsylvania's nuclear plant in Susquehanna. Google is currently investing in the development of modular "mini" nuclear reactors for its own energy requirements. The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission lists 94 operational commercial reactors at 55 nuclear power plants in 28 states that collectively provide about one-fifth of the nation's energy. Dozens of bee species found across the US are currently considered at-risk or endangered, so it is difficult to determine which species caused Meta's project setback, and where it happened. While the specific nuclear plant and bee remains a mystery, Purdue University assistant professor of entomology Brock Harpur believes that the current status of US bee species points to a few possibilities. "If it's in California, there are now several protected bumble bees," Harpur told Popular Science. California's only operational nuclear facility is currently Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County. Given that the process for approving and constructing any new nuclear plant takes years to accomplish, it's possible Meta would have wanted to court Diablo Canyon's owners at PG&E if the company hoped to keep up with its AI competition. Diablo Canyon representatives did not respond to Popular Science at the time of writing. With the majority of US nuclear plants located across the Midwest and East Coast, Harpur speculated that it's also possible the rare pollinator in question is the Rusty Patched Bumble bee, the first bee added to the US Fish and Wildlife Service's endangered species list in 2017.

Meta's plan for nuclear-powered AI data centre thwarted by rare bees

Plans by Mark Zuckerberg's Meta to build an AI data centre in the US that runs on nuclear power were thwarted in part because a rare species of bee was discovered on land earmarked for the project, according to people familiar with the matter. Zuckerberg had planned to strike a deal with an existing nuclear power plant operator to provide emissions-free electricity for a new data centre supporting his artificial intelligence ambitions. However, the potential deal faced multiple complications including environmental and regulatory challenges, these people said. The discovery of the rare bee species on a location next to the plant where the data centre was to be built would have complicated the project, Zuckerberg told a Meta all-hands meeting last week, according to two people familiar with the meeting. The blow comes as rivals Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all struck deals recently with nuclear power plant operators to fulfil rising energy demands from data centres as they race to train and maintain power-hungry AI models. One AI query consumes up to 10 times the energy of a standard Google search. Meta is continuing to explore various deals for carbon-free energy, including nuclear, one of the people said. Meta declined to comment. Nuclear is increasingly viewed as a way to get stable, round-the-clock power during the AI wars between Big Tech groups. However, it also has high upfront costs and takes a long time to build. The industry in the west has historically relied on Russia for nuclear fuel. Critics also caution about the risks of the build-up of toxic radioactive waste, which has to be stored safely or it could severely harm both humans and the environment. In September, Microsoft announced it would revive the mothballed nuclear plant at Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania. Amazon paid $650mn in March to put a data centre next to the Susquehanna Steam Electric nuclear plant, also in Pennsylvania. Google, meanwhile, said last month that it had ordered six to seven small modular nuclear reactors from US start-up Kairos Power, becoming the first tech company to commission new nuclear power plants. Zuckerberg is under pressure to prove to investors that his all-in bet on AI will bear fruit, as the company's capital expenditures continue to rise given its investments in running servers and data centres to develop the cutting-edge technology. Zuckerberg told staffers at the all-hands that, had the deal gone ahead, Meta would have been the first Big Tech group to wield nuclear-powered AI, and would have had the largest nuclear plant available to power data centres, two people said. One person familiar with the matter said that Zuckerberg has been frustrated with the lack of nuclear options in the US, while China has been embracing nuclear power. China appears to be building nuclear reactors at a fast clip, whereas only a handful of reactors have been brought online over the past two decades in the US. Meta said it had already hit "net zero" emissions in its operations since 2020.

Meta's nuclear-powered AI ambitions appear to have been thwarted by a swarm of bees

The course of big tech construction never did run smooth. If you're not contending with straightforward money issues, then you're stumbling upon human remains and have no choice but to put the whole project on pause while you figure out the best home for those bones. That said, I'm not sure this latest spanner in the works of big tech's machinations was on my bingo card. As we've previously covered, AI requires an enormous amount of power and major players are manoeuvring to meet that demand in a way that facilitates a carbon-free future. Meta had hoped to follow Google and Amazon's lead, aiming to strike a deal with a nuclear energy provider to power their AI ambitions. The plan was to build a new data centre right next to an existing nuclear power plant. Unfortunately the land that was earmarked for development is close to the home of a rare endangered species of bee, according to Ars Technica -- that's gotta sting. Sorry bug buffs, but we don't yet know which species of bee is involved, though we do know the arthropods in question are buzzing happily on a site next to the plot currently being pitched for data centre development. However, their hive is far from the only obstacle Meta is having to contend with. The company itself has not yet commented on the situation, but sources close to the matter at Meta told Ars Technica that the project is facing additional challenges both regulatory and environmental in nature. Considering Meta is hoping to not only cook up nuclear powered AI before the competition, but also wants to hold onto its 2020 achievement of "net zero" emissions, it's definitely not ideal. Sources also say that Meta head Mark Zuckerberg has in the past expressed frustration at the lack of nuclear options in the US compared to China. For example, we've already covered big tech's mounting interest in small modular reactors, but even so only one SMR design has been approved in the US -- whereas China is already building the Linglong One SMR. China has also apparently built more nuclear reactors that aren't SMRs than the US has over the last twenty years. In other words, if Meta still wants to build close to a power plant, there are few other options. Nuclear continues to be an appealing source of energy for big tech companies as it can easily address the round the clock power needs of data centres, whereas renewable energy sources would instead require workarounds such as massive batteries. That said, nuclear power is far from the most straightforward option. Besides a number of accidents still in living memory (or the massive strides in nuclear safety that have followed since), there's also the matter of harmful nuclear waste and how to properly store it. It's often touted as a carbon-free option, but improperly managed nuclear power can still present a serious risk to the environment (to put it mildly). With that in mind, it's hard not to be a little tickled by where these bees call home. Nature and nuclear may well have a future together, but for the time being Meta's AI ambitions seem to have been scuppered -- and for the endangered hive, that's the bee's knees.

Mark Zuckerberg's Nuclear-Powered Data Center for AI Derailed by Bees

Even if AI turns out to be a hype cycle, getting a lot of clean energy could make it worth the hassle. Meta has faced a setback in its plan to build data centers run on nuclear power. The FT reports that CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff last week that the land it was planning to build a new data center on was discovered to be the home of a rare bee species, which would have complicated the building process. Amazon has also faced a recent setback after the government on Monday rejected a request to increase the amount of power a nuclear plant can direct to one of its data centers. It's still allowed to use 300 megawatts from the Susquehanna plant but initially sought 480 megawatts. Big tech companies have gone all-in on nuclear power as each prompting of their AI models requires boiling the ocean for energy. Large language models have to do more inference, or thinking, than a traditional search. But big tech has bet the farm on generative AI for their future growth potentialâ€"Zuckerberg has said he envisions a world in which social feeds are filled with AI-generated content based on your interests. It could be useful in other ways, like improved ad-targeting. The jury is still out on whether any of this investment in generative AI will bear fruit. At least in the enterprise sector, where customers would be more amenable to paying for tools, the adoption of products like Microsoft Copilot has been lackluster due to unreliable performance. Copilot subscriptions cost $30 a month, and it's hard to gauge whether tools like automated document drafting are worth the money. Output from AI often requires a lot of editing, which can negate any time savings. At the very least, all this investment in AIâ€"capable of generating an image of Mario flying into the Twin Towersâ€"could at least result in the U.S. having a lot more clean energy. Honestly, let's make ChatGPT searches more inefficient if it means we counterintuitively can help the environment. It'd produce more good than the metaverse did. Microsoft is paying billions to recommission Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island nuclear plant, which has been offline for five years. The company will be paying a big premium over existing solar and wind energy, but the appeal of nuclear is that it provides a consistent stream of energy without lumpiness. While it seems like nuclear is having a resurgence, it's still not clear how many Americans would be okay with having a nuclear plant near their home. Microsoft, Google, and others set big ambitions in previous years to become carbon-neutral, but have admitted that big investments in AI have set those goals back. Microsoft said earlier this year that its emissions have grown at least 29% since 2020 due to AI investment.

Meta's nuclear power plans were foiled by bees

The 'smart money' predicts a Donald Trump win and a Republican landslide, strategist says A rare species of bee was found on land where the company was planning to put a nuclear-powered artificial intelligence data center, the Financial Times reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees during an all-hands meeting that the rare bees would further complicate a deal with an existing nuclear power plant to build the data center. Aside from the bees, the potential deal would face environmental and regulatory challenges, people told the Financial Times. The tech giant is still looking for carbon-free energy deals to support rising energy demand from its AI development, and Zuckerberg is unhappy with the U.S.' limited nuclear options, people told the publication. Zuckerberg reportedly told employees that Meta would've been the first among its Big Tech peers to have nuclear-powered AI and that it would've had the largest nuclear plant for its data centers if the deal had worked out. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Quartz. Meanwhile, Amazon (AMZN-0.94%), Google (GOOGL-1.00%), and Microsoft (MSFT-0.51%) have all recently signed nuclear power deals as tech companies grapple with AI's massive energy consumption. In October, Amazon signed three agreements "to support the development of nuclear energy projects," including building "several" small modular reactors (SMRs). These "advanced" nuclear reactors have "a smaller physical footprint, allowing them to be built closer to the grid," Amazon said. Google also announced in October that it had signed "the world's first corporate agreement to purchase nuclear energy" from SMRs developed by California-based Kairos Power. In September, Microsoft and Constellation Energy (CEG-10.59%) -- the owner of most of the U.S.' power plants -- announced a 20-year power purchase agreement that would restart the Unit 1 reactor on Three Mile Island.

Mark Zuckerberg's Nuclear-Powered AI Ambitions At Meta Stung By Rare Bees - Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOG), Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN)

Meta Platforms, Inc. META has reportedly hit a roadblock in its plans to construct a nuclear-powered AI data center in the U.S. The discovery of a rare bee species on the proposed site has disrupted the project. What Happened: Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had planned to collaborate with an existing nuclear power plant operator to provide emissions-free electricity for the new data center. However, the project encountered several hurdles, including environmental and regulatory issues, reported Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter. See Also: Jeff Bezos-Backed Perplexity's New AI Election Hub Promises Real-Time Vote Counts And Candidate Summaries -- But What About Its Accuracy? The rare bee species found on the land adjacent to the plant, where the data center was to be built, added to the project's challenges. Zuckerberg shared this information during a company-wide meeting last week. Despite the setback, Meta is still investigating various carbon-free energy alternatives, including nuclear. Meta did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comments. Why It Matters: The tech industry's increasing demand for electricity to fuel the AI boom has led to a significant shift towards nuclear power. Meta's rivals, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN, Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google, and Microsoft Corporation MSFT have inked deals with nuclear power plant operators to cater to their data centers' growing energy needs. In September, Microsoft revealed plans to reactivate the dormant nuclear facility at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania. In March, Amazon invested $650 million to establish a data center adjacent to the Susquehanna Steam Electric nuclear plant, also located in Pennsylvania. Last month, Google announced its intention to purchase power from small modular reactor (SMR) developer Kairos Power. Read Next: Google Delivers New AI Features To Maps, Google Earth, Waze Apps Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors. Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs