According to the job description, Microsoft aims to use small nuclear reactors to provide the large amounts of computing power needed to power artificial intelligence.
According to a job description released by Microsoft on Thursday, the company is looking for a nuclear technologist to lead the company's program to conduct a technical evaluation of the integration of small modular nuclear reactors and microreactors “for data centers that include Microsoft Cloud and artificial intelligence.” "Performance. Intelligence."
Microsoft is trying to produce energy through nuclear fission, where atoms split and release energy.
Last January, Microsoft announced a multi-year, multi-billion dollar investment in OpenAI, the maker of the viral artificial intelligence chatbot (ChatGPT).
It is worth noting that Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the nuclear innovation company TerraPower, which develops and expands small modular reactor designs.
A Terra Power spokesperson told CNBC that the company currently has no agreements to sell reactors to Microsoft.
However, Microsoft has announced its commitment to expand into the field of nuclear energy with one of the most prominent innovators in the field of nuclear fusion.
In May this year, Microsoft announced that it had signed a power purchase agreement with Helion, a nuclear fusion startup, and that it would purchase power from them in 2028.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, was one of the first significant investors in Helion.
During nuclear fusion, two small nuclei collide to form a heavier atom, releasing large amounts of energy. This is how the sun generates energy.
Although this fusion technology has not yet been replicated on a large scale on Earth, a number of venture capital-backed startups are working to make it a reality, with the promise of virtually unlimited clean energy.
Interest in nuclear energy has increased in recent years with growing concerns about climate change because nuclear reactors emit little carbon dioxide when producing electricity.