Kairos Power gets up to $100M from Samsung group to build nuclear reactor for Google
- ID
- 26933
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 22 Sep 2026, 2:23 AM
- Fetched
- 22 Sep 2026, 4:30 AM
- Provider
- TechCrunch
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/21/kairos-power-gets-up-to-100m-from-samsung-group-to-build-nuclear-reactor-for-google/
- Source URL
- https://techcrunch.com/feed/
Summary
- Score
- 4.5
- Created
- 22 Sep 2026, 4:31 AM
- Tags
- Audience
- developersai_ml_learnerssaas_founders
What happened
Kairos Power has selected Samsung C&T to help build its 50 MW demonstration reactor (Hermes 2) for Google, with Samsung providing up to $100M in combined equity ($70M) and in-kind engineering services. Hermes 2, a fluoride salt-cooled high-temperature reactor using TRISO fuel, is targeted to begin operating by 2030 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and will count as the first 50 MW of Kairos's broader agreement to supply Google with ~500 MW of nuclear power by 2035.
Why it matters
This signals that hyperscaler nuclear power deals are moving from MOUs toward construction commitments with real engineering partners and timelines. For builders running AI workloads, it confirms that large-scale clean power for data centers won't arrive before 2030 at the earliest—so near-term compute capacity and pricing will remain constrained by existing grid power, not next-gen reactors.
Discussion angle
What does a 2030+ timeline for new nuclear power mean for your AI compute cost assumptions over the next 3-5 years—should founders be pricing in persistent GPU scarcity rather than expecting it to ease?