France set to pledge one gigawatt of nuclear power for AI

France's President Emmanuel Macron (C), flanked by France's Prime Minister Gabriel Attal (2nd L), France's Minister for Economy and Finances Bruno Le Maire (L), France's Minister for Interior and Overseas Gerald Darmanin (R), and Elysee's general secretary Alexis Kohler (2nd R), chairs a security and defence council at the Elysee presidential palace in Paris on May 16, 2024, after three nights of clashes in France's riot-struck Pacific territory of New Caledonia protest following a reform changing voting rolls that representatives of the indigenous Kanak population say will dilute their vote.
(Image credit: Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

  • A gigawatt nuclear energy data center could open soon in France
  • “Power is the number one consideration” for AI
  • Models need more energy for training than ever

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced €109 billion in private investments to improve French AI infrastructure.

Key to the investment is one gigawatt of nuclear energy power, which will be destined for the high-performance computers and data centers needed to power emerging AI tools.

Announced as part of the AI Action Summit in Paris, the power will add to France’s already extensive nuclear infrastructure, which consists of 57 reactors across 18 different plants.

France will use nuclear energy to power AI

Around a third of the country’s entire energy consumption comes from nuclear energy, and its infrastructure is so extensive that it exported surplus energy to other countries last year. Using nuclear energy to power its AI data centers seems like the natural progression.

Macron added: “Plug, baby, plug” – a reference to US President Donald Trump’s “Drill, baby, drill” plan to expand oil drilling operations across the States.

Josh Parker, Nvidia’s senior director of corporate sustainability, said at the Summit: “Power is the number one consideration for getting access to AI and bringing our systems online” (via WSJ).

The first wave of the project will consist of 250 megawatts of AI-destined nuclear energy by the end of 2026. FluidStack, the company behind the project, aims to start work in the third quarter of 2024. It’s expecting to get most of its high-performance chips from Nvidia – currently the world’s second-most valuable company with a $3.27 trillion valuation.

Energy demands are only rising, too. Separate WSJ reporting reveals that today’s leading AI models used 30 megawatts of energy for training. That could rise to five gigawatts by the end of the decade.

The latest investments add France to the race of countries and companies bidding big on nuclear and other green energy sources to power future data centers.

You might also like

Craig Hale

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.

Read more
Ai tech, businessman show virtual graphic Global Internet connect Chatgpt Chat with AI, Artificial Intelligence.
AI investment isn't slowing down — venture capitalists are funding startups while trying to grapple with environmental impact
Elon Musk and Grok.
Elon Musk’s xAI supercomputer gets 150MW power boost despite concerns over grid impact and local power stability
Half man, half AI.
AI energy efficiency monitoring ranks low among enterprise users, survey by inference hardware specialists finds
Racks of servers inside a data center.
President Biden signs executive order to open up federal land to speed up AI data center construction
An AI face in profile against a digital background.
Concerns about AI energy use ranks last in global enterprise survey, highlighting the challenges which lie ahead
Racks of servers inside a data center.
Businesses are slowly waking up to the environmental effects of Gen AI
Latest in Pro
Hands typing on a keyboard surrounded by security icons
Outdated ID verification myths put businesses at risk
Google Chrome dark mode
Google updates Chrome extension rules to ban affiliate link injection without user action or benefit
Abstract image of robots working in an office environment including creating blueprint of robot arm, making a phone call, and typing on a keyboard
This worrying botnet targets unsecure TP-Link routers - thousands of devices already hacked
Windows 10 button on a keyboard
Microsoft’s Remote Desktop app becomes the Windows App
Abstract image of cyber security in action.
Four key questions to strengthen your cyber threat detection strategy
Avast cybersecurity
UK cybersecurity sector could be worth £13bn, research shows
Latest in News
Two Android phones on a green and blue background showing Google Messages
Struggling with slow Google Messages photo transfers? Google says new update will make 'noticeable difference'
Elayne, Egwene, and Nynaeve dressed regally and on horseback in The Wheel of Time season 3
'There's a reason why we do it': The Wheel of Time showrunner responds to fans who are still upset over the Prime Video show's plot alterations
Google Pixel 9
Android 16 could bring an improved Samsung DeX-style desktop mode to more phones
An Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Ti
Nvidia could unleash RTX 5060 and 5060 Ti GPUs on PC gamers tomorrow, but there’s no sign of rumored RTX 5050 yet
AI writing
ChatGPT just wrote the most beautiful short story, and I wonder what I'm even doing here
Google Chrome dark mode
Google updates Chrome extension rules to ban affiliate link injection without user action or benefit