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The two companies, backed by Bill Gates and Sam Altman, have raised over $1 billion amid a surge in investor optimism that nuclear energy will support the artificial intelligence revolution.
Terrapower, a private company founded by Gates, said it raised $650 million from investors on Wednesday.
This week, it follows a $460 million share raise this week by Oklo, a listed developer of a small modular reactor supported by Altman, a new type of nuclear reactor that generates electricity less than about a third of the power of the standard model.
Analysts said companies are using the positive financial environment created by recent transactions supported by nuclear developers and governments, such as Google, Meta, Microsoft. This has pushed nuclear-related stock prices to record levels, creating momentum for private funding, they said.
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Chris Levesque, CEO of Terrapower, told the Financial Times that funding is further evidence that nuclear technology is the key source of the industry’s power to deploy AI.
Terrapower raised more than $2 billion in private funding, won a $2 billion grant from the US government, and the design and construction of Kemer, Wyoming’s first nuclear reactor.
Some existing investors, including Korean conglomerates Gates and HD Hd Hyundai, also participated in the latest fundraising, according to Terrapower.
“This will fund Terrapower’s operation,” Levesque, a former officer on the nuclear submarine, said in an interview.
He added that the company ended its plant design this year, with construction in Kemerer continuing for more than a year.
Terrapower has participated in races with other US nuclear reactor developers such as Oklo and with Chinese and Russian groups deploying and certifying that SMR designs could be commercially successful.
They are responding to a surge in interest from technology companies and utilities seeking reliable power supply to fuel electricity hunger AI data centers.
According to forecasts by Consultancy ICF, after 20 years of near-flat growth, US electricity demand is projected to rise by up to 25% by 2023 by 2050.
“The global increase in demand, particularly for the 24/7 electricity industry and AI, has created a market premium for nuclear energy, along with environmental benefits and constraints on the supply of alternatives.”
“The investment opportunities in the supply chains associated with nuclear technology developers are very strong right now,” he said.
On Monday, Oklo said it raised $460 million in funding through stock hikes.
Altman, an early stage investor in Okro and chaired in 2015, stepped down from his April role before he began talking to Open AI about signing his energy contract.
Small reactor developers, including Oklo, X-Energy and Newcleo, have raised at least $2 billion since early 2024, according to FT analysis by Pitchbook and Bloombergnef.
