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.

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…