Microsoft, JP MorganChase, and a tech company consortium that includes Alphabet, Meta, Shopify, and Stripe have all recently struck multimillion-dollar deals to pay paper mill owners to capture at least hundreds of thousands of tons of this greenhouse gas by installing carbon scrubbing equipment in their facilities. The captured carbon dioxide will then be piped down into saline aquifers more than a mile underground, where it should be sequestered permanently. Big Tech is suddenly betting big on this form of carbon removal, known as bioenergy with carbon capture and storage, or BECCS. But experts have raised a number of concerns. Like many new nuclear startups, Kairos promises a path to reliable, 24/7 decarbonized power. Unlike most, it already has prototypes under construction and permits for several reactors.

Google is officially putting its weight behind advanced "mini" nuclear reactors in an effort to produce new clean to meet growing AI energy demands. On Tuesday, the company announced an agreement with California-based small nuclear reactor (SMR) startup Kairos Power to commission the development of six or seven reactors that could add 500 megawatts of clean energy to the US electrical grid within the next decade. Google's buy-in represents the biggest investment for the experimental new reactor type from a tech company and could play a key in making so-called next-generation nuclear commercially viable. The deal is part of a broader embrace of nuclear power by tech giants who are frantically searching for ways to fuel their increasing energy consumption while attempting to stick to their climate goals. In a blog post, Google said it expects the first of Kairos reactors to come online as early as 2030, with the other five six operational by 2035.

With its Gemini chatbot and Pixel AI phone software, it's fair to say Google has an obsessive focus on artificial intelligence. But all that advanced computational power requires millions of computers, known as'servers', housed inside data centres across the world that operate 24/7. Now, in an attempt to cater to its vast AI needs, Google is going nuclear. The tech giant has signed a deal with California-based nuclear firm Kairos Power to build new nuclear reactors to supply its US data centres with energy. Although the location of these reactors is yet to be revealed, Google said the first will be operational in 2030, with more to follow by 2035.

Google has signed a landmark deal to use electricity produced by small nuclear reactors to power artificial intelligence (AI). Under the agreement signed with startup Kairos Power on Monday, the California-based tech giant will back the construction of seven small nuclear reactors capable of generating 500 megawatts of power. The first reactor is scheduled to come online by 2030, with others to follow in the coming years. "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, the senior director of energy and climate at Google, said in a blog post. "This agreement helps accelerate a new technology to meet energy needs cleanly and reliably, and unlock the full potential of AI for everyone."

The future of clean energy is hot. Temperatures hit 800 Celsius in parts of solar energy plants and advanced nuclear reactors. Finding materials that can stand that type of heat is tough. So experts look to Mark Messner for answers. A principal mechanical engineer at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory, Messner is among a group of engineers who are discovering better ways to predict how materials will behave under high temperatures and pressures.

A new take on artificial intelligence may open many doors for 3D printing and designing advanced nuclear reactors. The future of clean energy is hot. Temperatures hit 800 Celsius in parts of solar energy plants and advanced nuclear reactors. Finding materials that can stand that type of heat is tough. So experts look to Mark Messner for answers.