OpenAI CEO Sam Altman bet on these 3 energy companies

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Sam Altman speaking into a CNBC microphone — OpenAI CEO Sam Altman at the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 11, 2023 in Sun Valley, Idaho.

This week, Google (GOOGL) and Amazon (AMZN) both announced nuclear power agreements following a deal by Microsoft (MSFT) in September to purchase nuclear energy from Constellation Energy (CEG).

While the artificial intelligence boom has boosted revenues for major tech companies, the massive demand for energy is hindering sustainability efforts. Earlier this year, both Google and Microsoft said neither company is on track to meet its climate targets.

Demand for data centers will continue to rise as big tech sets its ambitions on more powerful AI models. Despite the environmental toll, experts say data and other AI infrastructure will be the winners of AI’s next phase.

One query on OpenAI’s ChatGPT needs almost 10 times as much electricity as a Google search on average, according to a Goldman Sachs (GS) study.

But the startup’s founder, Sam Altman, is one of many tech leaders who are interested in tapping into alternative energy sources and novel storage schemes to mitigate AI’s energy problem.

Here are three energy-focused startups Altman has invested in.

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Oklo

four nuclear power reactors on a piece of land with part of the river in the foreground — The shuttered Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in the middle of the Susquehanna River on October 10, 2024 near Middletown, Pennsylvania.

Altman was a lead investor in Oklo’s seed round in January 2015, but has since exited the deal, according to PitchBook.

The nuclear power company, which has three project sites, says it’s “developing next-generation fission powerhouses to produce abundant, affordable, clean energy at a global scale.” Oklo’s Aurora powerhouse can produce 15 megawatts of electrical power (MWe), which the company says can scale up to 50 MWe and operate for ten years or longer before needing to be refueled.

Oklo has seen its shares climb over 200% in the past month.

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Helion Energy

inside a silver fusion reactor — Inside of a fusion reactor

Altman was a lead investor in Helion Energy’s Series E Round in November 2021, which raised $500 million, according to PitchBook. The OpenAI leader invested $375 million into the company, which is focused on fusion energy.

Helion claims to be the first private fusion company to have the technology that can reach the high temperature needed to produce fusion energy. Fusion could supply data centers with energy, Scott Krisiloff, Helion’s chief business officer, told Business Insider.

Last May, Microsoft agreed to buy 50 megawatts of electricity from Helion by 2028. That amount of electricity is enough to power 40,000 homes.

In January 2023, Altman said he’s “just super excited about what’s going to happen” with Helion, according to TechCrunch.

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Exowatt

Sam Altman

Photo: Justin Sullivan (Getty Images)

Altman was a lead investor in Exowatt’s seed round in April, which raised $20 million, according to PitchBook.

The startup develops modules that store energy as heat and produce electricity for AI data centers. Exowatt’s shipping container-sized modules are fitted with solar lenses that turn the sun’s energy into heat, which can warm up cheap material, and can be stored for up to 24 hours. The modules then produce electricity by passing the stored heat through an engine.

“You don’t have to go back to fossil fuels to solve the data-center energy problem…That’s counterproductive,” Hannan Parvizian, chief executive of Exowatt, told the Wall Street Journal.

A look at the energy companies OpenAI's Sam Altman is backing

A look at the energy companies OpenAI's Sam Altman is backing

Tech companies are turning to alternative energy as data center demand soars

Oklo

Oklo

Helion Energy

Helion Energy

Exowatt

Exowatt