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Amazon (AMZN) invests in multiple nuclear energy projects to power AWS data centers

The company is investing in small modular reactor projects to help it move to a net-zero carbon company by 2040.

October 18, 2024 12:34 PM

Image via Amazon

Amazon has announced some hefty investments in the energy sector to help meet energy demands and bolster power for its Amazon Web Services (AWS) data centers. The group will invest into several nuclear energy projects in North America as part of a mission to be net-zero carbon in its energy usage by 2040, as well as bolstering energy supply, particularly to its cloud data facilities.

The Amazon company announced its investment into nuclear energy projects in a recent blog post on the company’s news webpages. There, Amazon laid out its plans for investment into new nuclear energy projects set to be complete by around 2030. That includes investment into projects pertaining to Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), which are an advancement in nuclear power technology that have a smaller physical demand and quicker build time, allowing them to be established and operational in a greater variety of spaces, but notably closer to power grids.

An Amazon Web Services data center — Amazon's investments into nuclear energy are meant to bolster overall energy supply, but also power its AWS data centers.
Source: Amazon

CEO of Amazon Web Services Matt Garman was happy to speak to the matter of Amazon’s nuclear energy investments in a statement on the announcement:

AWS is well worth Amazon’s investment at this point. That sector of the company’s business alone produced $25 billion in revenue for AMZN in Q1 2024. With new nuclear facilities sounding like they’re coming to Pennsylvania and the Pacific Northwest, stay tuned for more AWS updates as these investments move to meet expanding energy demands.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.

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October 18, 2024 12:34 PM

TJ Denzer posted a new article, Amazon (AMZN) invests in multiple nuclear energy projects to power AWS data centers
- Safe For Work
  
   reply
  October 18, 2024 2:47 PM
  
  All this spend to avoid paying real human artists and writers.
  - baron calamity
    
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    October 18, 2024 2:57 PM
    
    Thats just a stepping stone. A side benefit while they research General AI.
    - Conan
      
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      October 18, 2024 3:02 PM
      
      There is no reason to think we're any closer to general AI than we were before LLMs; it's painfully clear they aren't a path to it, though I could see an LLM being part of how a general AI would communicate.
  - dkrulz
    
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    October 18, 2024 3:05 PM
    
    No way they're doing it so they can have AI solve climate change.
    - azshack
      
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      October 18, 2024 3:30 PM
      
      Still can't believe Bill Gates used that justification for AI. It'd be hilarious if we got a general AI and its solution to climate change was what everyone knew all along: ban cars, stop fossil fuel production, mass transit everywhere, walkable cities, etc.
      - azshack
        
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        October 18, 2024 3:31 PM
        
        Or, alternately, it decides that humans are the problem and kills us all.
        
        Conan
        
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        October 18, 2024 3:32 PM
        
        Or it becomes a digital Ra's Al Ghul and decides inverse decimation is the answer.
      - derelict515
        
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        October 18, 2024 4:01 PM
        
        we will know we haven't found AGI as long as it suggests stupid ideas like degrowth
  - Zek
    
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    October 18, 2024 6:05 PM
    
    Artists and writers aren't really what the tech industry is excited about. They want to replace all white collar labor.