AI Endgame: Tech giants are the new “Robber Barons”

Newsletter #9

Nov 08, 2024

Nov. 8, 2024

By Debbie Coffey, AI Endgame

The old “Robber Barons”

The term "robber baron" was first used in the early 1870s to describe extremely wealthy businessmen who made fortunes by monopolizing vital industries, often by using ruthless and unethical business tactics to dominate these industries.

Meet the new “Robber Barons”

Tech companies own AI software. They own, or are building, datacenters. Now, they’re buying, or building, nuclear reactors, so they’ll also own power.

They also invest in each other’s companies. As AI companies gain more control over all aspects of these industries, this is becoming a monopoly.

The business tactics of AI companies are being questioned because while they publicly feign concern for AI safety, they use questionable ethics by doing risky secret experiments with AI. AI companies are so obsessed in the race to be “first,” they put AI development above concerns that the risks of AI could lead to immanent human extinction.

Building a new type of nuclear reactor

New mobile nuclear reactors called small modular reactors (SMRs) are being built to support the growing power needs of datacenters. While the construction of large, commercial-scale nuclear reactor projects have historically run over budget and behind schedule, SMRs are supposed to be a more cost-effective way to increase nuclear power.[1]

SMRs, also referred to as nuclear “microreactors,” are small, factory-built systems that can be transported by trucks, ships, airplanes, or railcars. SMRs can provide power to remote areas, datacenters, residential areas, and military bases.[2]

Today, only three SMRs are operational in the world. China and Russia each operate one, and Japan operates a test reactor.[3] However, there are currently more than 80 SMR designs being developed in 19 countries. [4]

I don’t know about you, but when I think about mobile SMRs, images of theft and of accidents during transportation cross my mind.

Tech companies are building new nuclear reactors in the U.S.

The five largest tech companies, including Alphabet, Microsoft, and Amazon spent $59 billion on nuclear development in one quarter (in only 3 months) in 2024.

Do you think they’re just giving away tons of money because they don’t want greenhouse gases? (Hint: They won’t even give up their private jets.)

They know fusion technology will likely be a $40 trillion market in the future. [5]

To give you some idea of the extent of deals by tech companies buying up nuclear power, I’ve compiled a list of some recent deals.

Microsoft (Bill Gates)

Microsoft founder Bill Gates has co-founded and invested more than $1 billion in TerraPower, a company developing smaller nuclear reactors in Kemmerer, Wyoming, next to PacifiCorp’s Naughton Power plant (Gates is partnering with Warren Buffet’s Pacificorp). TerraPower has had to delay the launch by two years (to 2030) because the only commercial supplier of high-assay low-enriched uranium is Russia. [6]

Microsoft also agreed to buy power from Helion Energy (Sam Altman, Co-Founder of Open AI, is the co-founder of Helion). [7]

Amazon (Jeff Bezos)

In 2024, Amazon announced agreements to build small modular reactors (SMRs) with three companies: X-Energy, Dominion Energy, and Energy Northwest.[8]

Amazon’s agreement to build SMRs with Energy Northwest, a consortium of 29 public utility districts and municipalities across Washington, will help Amazon skirt Oregon’s long-standing ban on new nuclear reactors.

It’s interesting to note the power from the first four SMRs will be built for exclusive use by Amazon, “with the possibility of building eight additional SMRs for Amazon’s benefit and for ‘northwest utilities to power homes and businesses.’” [9]

In 2024, Amazon Web Services announced it signed an agreement with Dominion Energy, Virginia’s utility company, to explore the development of a small modular nuclear reactor, near Dominion’s existing North Anna nuclear power station.[10]

In 2024, Amazon Web Services spent $650 million to develop a datacenter in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, that will be powered by Talon Energy’s Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, the sixth-largest nuclear power plant in the U.S. This nuclear power plant has been operating since 1983 (for 41 years).[11]

Alphabet / Google (Sundar Pichai, CEO)

Google is investing in Kairos Power to develop a fleet of small modular reactors.[12]

Sam Altman (OpenAI)

Sam Altman is Chairman of Oklo, a nuclear “microreactor” company with a site in Idaho that will use (the older) fission nuclear energy. Oklo merged with AltC Acquistion Corp., a special purpose acquisition company co-founded by Altman.

Altman also is chairman of Helion Energy, a nuclear fusion startup. [13]

Peter Thiel & Founders Fund (Palantir Technologies)

You may not have heard of Palantir, a data mining company that was co-founded by Peter Thiel and Alex Karp.[14] Palantir has contracts with many U.S. government agencies and has a current net worth of $100.46 billion.[15]

In 2024, Founders Fund, a venture capital firm co-founded by Peter Thiel, invested in Radiant Industries, to build portable nuclear reactors.[16]

In 2024, Thiel’s Founders Fund also invested in General Matter Inc. (this company received an award from the U.S. Department of Energy to produce and store high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU), to be made into fuel for advanced reactors. Scott Nolan, the CEO of General Matter, is also a partner at Founders Fund and a former SpaceX employee.[17] (Bill Gates may want to buy some of this HALEU for TerraPower.)

Palantir has a contract worth $89.9 million (signed in 2021) for safety analytics with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which oversees the country's nuclear weapons stockpile.[18]

Peter Thiel is also backing Helion Energy, co-founded by Sam Altman.[19]

Mark Zuckerberg (Meta)

Meta had plans to build an AI datacenter near a nuclear power plant, but since a rare species of bees was found on the site, Meta’s nuclear plans have stalled.[20]

Elon Musk (xAI, X, SpaceX, Tesla)

Although there isn’t news of Elon Musk buying nuclear power, other types of power may be in play. Regardless of any political party concerned, Musk founded America PAC and donated over $132 million to Donald Trump and other Republicans.[21] Talk about buying influence. Musk may have even bought himself more than influence if he’s appointed to a position of power within our government. (So much for draining the swamp.)

Per the Wall Street Journal, Musk has been in regular contact with Russian President Vladimir Putin for the past two years, and they talked about “issues including geopolitics, business, and personal matters.”[22] Putin even asked Musk not to activate the Starlink satellite system over Taiwan, as a favor to China’s Xi Jinping.[23] This is a big red flag because Musk has a U.S. top-secret security clearance.[24]

This is also a cautionary tale to remind us that we need to watch out for our safety and security in the business dealings of the big tech companies.

Circling back to the idea of “robber barons” at the beginning of this newsletter, since you know many billions of dollars are involved in AI, in datacenters, and in nuclear energy, do you foresee a power grab by big tech companies?

Next week: The massive use of water used by AI datacenters.

What you can do:

1) Call your representatives and tell them you “want regulations to pause AI now, until strong AI safety laws are enacted.”

Find out how to contact your Congressional representatives here:

https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative

Find out how to contact your Senators here:

https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?Class=1

2) Support (and if you can, make donations to) organizations fighting for AI Safety:

Pause AI

https://pauseai.info/

Center for Humane Technology

https://www.humanetech.com/who-we-are