Key Takeaways: Nuclear power startup Oklo announced a partnership with data center provider Switch on Wednesday. The news initially sent Oklo stock higher, but it cooled in late-morning trading. The two sides reached a ‘framework’ agreement for Oklo to provide 12 gigawatts of power to Switch’s data centers over the next two decades.
The deal is part of tech’s recent push into nuclear energy as giants like Amazon, Microsoft look for power for their data centers. Oklo (OKLO), a nuclear energy startup, partnered with Switch, which works in cloud and AI industries. The stock swung wildly as investors digested the news. It was recently up less than 1% at around $19 after rising to near $23 earlier. The power agreement for Oklo’s nuclear ‘powerhouses’ to supply 12 gigawatts to Switch’s data centers over two decades was announced. The companies called it a ‘framework for collaboration’ and said smaller individual agreements will likely come later as projects reach milestones. Financial details were not in the statement. Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte said in a statement that working with Switch will accelerate their early powerhouses and scaling by demonstrating customer demand for decades to come. Oklo is in the process of getting regulatory approvals to build its first ‘powerhouse’ and expects the one in Idaho to be online by 2027. Many big tech companies like Amazon (AMZN), Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL), and Microsoft (MSFT) have bet on nuclear energy recently, signing agreements to power data center operations. Regulators have questioned if these deals could increase energy prices for surrounding residents. Oklo shares have risen about 80% this year as big-tech nuclear deal announcements have lifted it and other nuclear stocks.