By Global blog usa news
The intersection of artificial intelligence and atomic energy reached a fever pitch this morning as shares of Oklo Inc. (NYSE: OKLO) skyrocketed nearly 17% in premarket trading. The catalyst: a massive, multi-faceted agreement with Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) that cements the social media giant’s position as one of the most aggressive corporate purchasers of nuclear power in global history.
Under the landmark deal, Oklo—a nuclear startup backed by OpenAI CEO Sam Altman—will develop a 1.2-gigawatt (GW) nuclear power campus in Pike County, Ohio. This facility is specifically designed to provide a 24/7 carbon-free “baseload” for Meta’s Prometheus AI supercluster, a multi-billion-dollar computing titan currently rising in New Albany, Ohio.
As of 7:03 am ET, Oklo shares were trading at $114.32, a gain of 16.89%, as investors scrambled to price in what many are calling the “Atomic Renaissance of Big Tech.”
The Deal Breakdown: Powering the “Prometheus” Vision
Meta’s pursuit of Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) has led to an insatiable appetite for electricity. In July 2025, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the “Prometheus” project—a 1 GW supercluster that would require as much power as a mid-sized American city. To fuel this digital colossus, Meta is bypassing traditional grid constraints and funding its own energy future.
The Pike County Power Campus
Oklo’s role in this ecosystem centers on a 206-acre site in Pike County, Ohio. This land, formerly owned by the Department of Energy, will house Oklo’s Aurora “powerhouse” reactors.
- Capacity: 1.2 GW of clean energy.
- Timeline: Pre-construction and site studies begin in 2026, with the first phase coming online by 2030.
- Full Deployment: Scaling to the full 1.2 GW capacity by 2034.
A New Funding Model
Crucially, the agreement includes “upfront payment provisions” from Meta. This allows Meta to prepay for electricity, effectively acting as a venture financier to help Oklo purchase nuclear fuel and navigate the expensive regulatory hurdles of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Meta’s 6.6 Gigawatt Nuclear Portfolio
The Oklo deal is just one pillar of a broader nuclear offensive announced by Meta today. The company revealed a staggering total commitment to secure 6.6 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2035 through a trio of partnerships:
- Vistra Corp (VST): Meta signed 20-year agreements to buy power from three existing nuclear plants (Perry and Davis-Besse in Ohio, and Beaver Valley in Pennsylvania). This includes funding “uprates”—efficiency upgrades that will add 433 MW of new generation capacity.
- TerraPower LLC: Backed by Bill Gates, TerraPower will receive funding from Meta to develop two “Natrium” advanced reactors (up to 690 MW) by 2032, with options for six additional units by 2035.
- Oklo Inc (OKLO): The 1.2 GW “power campus” targeted for Southern Ohio.
“State-of-the-art data centers and AI infrastructure are essential to securing America’s position as a global leader in AI,” said Joel Kaplan, Meta’s policy chief. “These agreements will make Meta one of the most significant corporate purchasers of nuclear energy in American history.”
The Market Reaction: Why Investors Are Bullish on OKLO
Oklo’s stock performance today reflects a broader shift in investor sentiment toward Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). Unlike traditional nuclear plants, which take decades and tens of billions of dollars to build, SMRs like Oklo’s Aurora are designed to be factory-built and rapidly deployed.
High CPC Investor Takeaway: Traders are looking for long-term growth stocks for AI energy and nuclear power infrastructure plays. Oklo’s 17% jump is driven by the fact that it now has a “hyperscale” customer (Meta) providing the capital and demand certainty that was previously the biggest risk factor for the startup.
| Company | Stock Change (Premarket) | Role in Meta Deal |
| Oklo Inc (OKLO) | +16.89% | Developing 1.2 GW SMR campus in Ohio |
| Vistra Corp (VST) | +14.2% | Supplying baseload from existing Ohio/PA plants |
| Constellation (CEG) | +2.1% | (Pre-existing) 20-year Illinois plant deal |
The Sam Altman Connection: Competition vs. Cooperation
The deal adds a layer of intrigue to the Silicon Valley rivalry. Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, is one of Oklo’s largest investors and its former chairman. While OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) and Meta are fierce competitors in the AI model space, they are now dependent on the same energy source.
Altman stepped down from Oklo’s board in April 2025 to avoid antitrust concerns, but his vision for a nuclear-powered future is clearly being realized. Meta is effectively paying to build the infrastructure that its biggest rival helped conceive—a testament to how critical energy has become in the AI “arms race.”
The Economic Impact on Ohio
For the state of Ohio, the Meta-Oklo partnership is an economic windfall.
- Job Creation: Thousands of construction jobs and hundreds of permanent operational roles.
- Grid Stability: By funding its own power, Meta reduces the strain on the public utility grid, potentially lowering costs for residential consumers in the long run.
- New Albany Hub: Ohio is rapidly becoming the “Silicon Prairie,” with Intel, Google, Amazon, and now Meta investing billions into the state’s digital infrastructure.
The Risks: Regulatory and Technological Hurdles
Despite the market’s euphoria, challenges remain. Oklo has yet to bring a commercial reactor online. The Aurora powerhouse is a revolutionary design that uses “fast fission” technology to run on recycled nuclear fuel—a concept that has faced rigorous scrutiny from the NRC.
Furthermore, the 2030 timeline is ambitious. History has shown that nuclear projects are often plagued by delays. However, with Meta’s multi-billion-dollar balance sheet now backing the project, the financial risk of “going bust” has been virtually eliminated for Oklo.
Conclusion: A Watershed Moment for Clean Energy
Meta’s 6.6 GW commitment marks the definitive end of the “intermittent energy” era for Big Tech. While wind and solar were the darlings of the 2010s, the 2020s belong to the atom. As AI superintelligence approaches, the requirement for constant, unwavering “baseload” power has made nuclear energy the only viable path forward.
For Oklo, today is more than just a 17% stock gain—it is the validation of a decade of work. For the rest of the world, it is a sign that the AI revolution will be written in both code and atoms.