Oracle plans to power new AI-focused data center with nuclear energy

In a recent call with investors, Oracle Corporation's Larry Ellison said the company is planning a new data center to develop artificial intelligence that will be powered by nuclear energy, according to Ynet News.

The company has reportedly received permits to build three nuclear reactors for the project.

“This is what it takes to stay competitive in the race to build one of the world's most powerful neural computing networks,” Ellison said in the call.

Ellison, co-founder, executive chairman, and CTO of Oracle, became the world’s second-richest man on Monday, surpassing Jeff Bezos and trailing Elon Musk.

Though not a follower of Judaism, Ellison was born to a Jewish mother and raised by Reform Jewish adoptive parents. He is also a friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an open supporter of the State of Israel.

The Jerusalem Post reported that “Oracle opened facilities in Israel in 1996, and currently employs some 400 here,” as of 2021.

Along with many AI developers, Ellison envisions a future in which AI will become increasingly integrated into our everyday lives.

In a recent conference in Austin, Texas, Ellison told the audience that constant AI surveillance ensures that police and “citizens” will be “on their best behavior.”

“We’re going to have supervision,” Ellison predicted. “Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that's going on.”

Oracle, one of the world’s most successful technology companies, “currently operates 162 data centers worldwide,” Ynet reported. “Its largest will consume 800 megawatts, ten times the current average. The company is now preparing for centers with over a gigawatt capacity.”

Ellison said during the conference that the company, which began by building a database for the Central Intelligence Agency, aims “to put Oracle data centers in every major city in the world, and pretty much every country in the world.”

Microsoft and OpenAI also have plans to build a massive AI data center known as “Stargate,” and are reportedly considering utilizing nuclear energy to power it.

Billionaire Elon Musk likewise recently launched a project known as "Colossus," dubbed by Musk as “the most powerful AI training system in the world,” at an xAI data center in Tennessee.