Latest news with #hyperscale
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Oklo and Vertiv to develop nuclear data centre power and cooling solutions
Advanced nuclear technology company Oklo has partnered Vertiv, a provider of critical digital infrastructure services, to co-develop power and thermal management solutions for hyperscale and colocation data centres. This approach will utilise steam and electricity generated by Oklo's advanced nuclear power plants in a significant shift towards sustainable energy use in digital infrastructure. The demonstration of pilot technology is planned for the first Oklo Aurora powerhouse. To address rising power demand in US data centres, Oklo and Vertiv are collaborating to enhance operations with an integrated solution that optimises power and cooling, combining Oklo's clean energy generation with Vertiv's advanced power and thermal management systems. By utilising heat from Oklo's onsite power plant to enhance Vertiv's cooling systems, the partnership aims to improve energy efficiency in data centres. Oklo co-founder and CEO Jacob DeWitte stated: 'This agreement is about delivering clean power, energy-efficient cooling and infrastructure solutions purpose-built for AI factories, data centres and high-density compute. "We are developing a plant concept that leverages proven, off-the-shelf components without altering the core design of our plants. Vertiv is an expert in cooling and power innovation for data centres and critical infrastructure, so co-designing these solutions from the outset, we can create greater value and efficiency for data centre and infrastructure operators. 'We're enhancing what already works to meet the needs of fast-growing industries with the speed, flexibility and direct integration that our model is built to deliver.' The initiative will provide reliable power for AI and high-performance computing while minimising environmental impact. Together, they will develop comprehensive reference designs for data centres powered by Oklo's facilities. Vertiv CEO Gio Albertazzi stated: 'Our collaboration with Oklo is an extension of Vertiv's commitment to energy-efficient infrastructure that supports modern data centre demands. 'As the demand for AI and high-performance computing continues to grow, nuclear energy is increasingly a discussion point for hyperscale, colocation and other large data centres. Vertiv is committed to driving innovation with the higher cooling capacities and energy efficiencies required to support modern data centres.' In May 2025, Oklo signed a memorandum of understanding with Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power to develop and globally deploy its fourth-generation small modular reactor technology, focusing on joint opportunities for standard design advancement. "Oklo and Vertiv to develop nuclear data centre power and cooling solutions" was originally created and published by Power Technology, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
STACK Infrastructure Secures AUD $1.3 Billion in Green Financing to Accelerate Expansion of MEL01 Hyperscale Campus in Melbourne
Institutional financing reflects confidence in STACK's APAC execution and global platform scalability STACK Infrastructure Secures AUD $1.3 Billion in Green Financing to Accelerate Expansion of MEL01 Hyperscale Campus in Melbourne SINGAPORE, July 23, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STACK Infrastructure ('STACK'), the digital infrastructure partner to some of the world's most innovative companies and a leading global developer and operator of data centers, today announced the successful close of an AUD $1.3 billion green financing facility to fund the next phase of development at its MEL01 hyperscale campus in West Melbourne, Australia. The facility was fully underwritten by five Mandated Lead Arrangers and Underwriters (MLAUBs): Deutsche Bank, MUFG Bank, Natixis, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation, and Société Générale. Since Q2 2024, STACK has executed more than $2 billion in financings to support its operations in Australia. To date, STACK has raised more than $36.1 billion in capital globally, demonstrating strong institutional confidence in STACK's long-term strategy and its ability to support customers' digital infrastructure growth across key global markets. 'This transaction demonstrates STACK's strategic execution in Asia Pacific and highlights our ability to align with long-term capital partners who share our vision,' said Preet Gona, Chief Executive Officer of STACK APAC. 'We remain committed to our clients' hyperscale demand in one of the region's most rapidly growing digital infrastructure markets.' The structure of the facility enhances STACK's ability to scale efficiently in response to demand. By leveraging high-quality, income-generating assets, STACK secured favorable terms that enable continued investment in critical infrastructure—reinforcing its role as a premier digital infrastructure partner in Asia Pacific and across a globally diversified platform. With operations spanning four countries in the region and an expanding footprint across key international markets, STACK continues to execute on its long-term global growth strategy. About STACK InfrastructureSTACK is a proven, trusted partner for the world's most innovative companies, designing, developing, and operating sustainable global digital infrastructure. Backed by an unmatched record of reliable delivery and development expertise, STACK brings speed, scale, certainty, and responsibility to the demands of a rapidly evolving digital infrastructure landscape. For more information about STACK, please visit: Media Contact:Sammer Khalafpress@ A photo accompanying this announcement is available at
Globe and Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Oklo and Vertiv Announce Collaboration to Advance Power and Cooling Solutions for Hyperscale and Colocation Data Centers in the United States
Oklo Inc . (NYSE: OKLO), an advanced nuclear technology company, and Vertiv (NYSE: VRT), a global leader of critical digital infrastructure, today announced a collaboration agreement focused on the co-development of advanced power and thermal management solutions tailored specifically for hyperscale and colocation data centers, powered by steam and electricity from Oklo's advanced nuclear power plants. The pilot technology demonstration is planned for the initial Oklo Aurora powerhouse. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: Vertiv and Oklo will collaborate on modular, energy-efficient power and cooling solutions and reference designs developed specifically to support data centers driven by nuclear power. In response to surging data center power demand in the U.S., Oklo and Vertiv are joining forces to revolutionize data center operations through an integrated solution that co-optimizes power and cooling, with Oklo's reliable clean energy generation and Vertiv's specifically designed advanced power and thermal management systems. By leveraging heat from Oklo's onsite power plant to drive Vertiv's cooling systems, the collaboration will significantly enhance data center energy efficiency. This approach delivers resilient power for demanding AI and high-performance computing operations while reducing environmental impact. The companies will work together to produce end-to-end reference designs for data centers that use Oklo's onsite power plants. 'This agreement is about delivering clean power, energy-efficient cooling, and infrastructure solutions purpose-built for AI factories, data centers, and high density compute,' said Jacob DeWitte, Co-Founder and CEO of Oklo. 'We are developing a plant concept that leverages proven, off-the-shelf components without altering the core design of our plants. Vertiv is an expert in cooling and power innovation for data centers and critical infrastructure, so co-designing these solutions from the outset, we can create greater value and efficiency for data center and infrastructure operators . ' Vertiv CEO Gio Albertazzi stated, 'Our collaboration with Oklo is an extension of Vertiv's commitment to energy-efficient infrastructure that supports modern data center demand s. As the demand for AI and high-performance computing continues to grow, nuclear energy is increasingly a discussion point for hyperscale, colocation, and other large data centers. Vertiv is committed to driving innovation with the higher cooling capacities and energy efficiencies required to support modern data centers.' Oklo's approach to power generation is designed to adapt quickly to market needs, offering customers more usable energy and enabling seamless teamwork between the power source and data center operations. By co-designing energy and thermal management from the beginning, and by deploying at a site adjacent to customer demand, Oklo and Vertiv will deliver a unified solution that simplifies deployment and enables improved performance and energy efficiency of data centers. These capabilities are uniquely enabled by Oklo's role as the owner and operator of its power plants, allowing for deeper integration with customer infrastructure and greater flexibility in how and where data centers are deployed. 'This partnership shows how Oklo is thinking about how and where advanced nuclear can be deployed,' added DeWitte. 'We're enhancing what already works to meet the needs of fast-growing industries with the speed, flexibility, and direct integration that our model is built to deliver.' This collaboration marks an important step in exploring how advanced nuclear energy can support the evolving power and cooling needs of data centers and other high-growth sectors, an increasing emphasis in Oklo's growing customer pipeline. About Oklo Inc.: Oklo Inc. is developing fast fission power plants to deliver clean, reliable, and affordable energy at scale, establishing a domestic supply chain for critical radioisotopes, and advancing nuclear fuel recycling to convert nuclear waste into clean energy. Oklo was the first to receive a site use permit from the U.S. Department of Energy for a commercial advanced fission plant, was awarded fuel from Idaho National Laboratory, and submitted the first custom combined license application for an advanced reactor to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Oklo is also developing advanced fuel recycling technologies in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and national laboratories. About Vertiv Vertiv (NYSE: VRT) brings together hardware, software, analytics and ongoing services to enable its customers' vital applications to run continuously, perform optimally and grow with their business needs. Vertiv solves the most important challenges facing today's data centers, communication networks and commercial and industrial facilities with a portfolio of power, cooling and IT infrastructure solutions and services that extends from the cloud to the edge of the network. Headquartered in Westerville, Ohio, USA, Vertiv does business in more than 130 countries. For more information, and for the latest news and content from Vertiv, visit Forward-Looking Statements This press release includes statements that express Oklo's opinions, expectations, objectives, beliefs, plans, intentions, strategies, assumptions, forecasts or projections regarding future events or future results and therefore are, or may be deemed to be, 'forward-looking statements.' The words 'anticipate,' 'believe,' 'continue,' 'could,' 'estimate,' 'expect,' 'intends,' 'may,' 'might,' 'plan,' 'possible,' 'potential,' 'predict,' 'project,' 'should,' 'would' or, in each case, their negative or other variations or comparable terminology, and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements include all matters that are not historical facts. They appear in a number of places throughout this press release and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations concerning, among other things, the benefits of the DOE's Voucher Program, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the markets in which Oklo operates. Such forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, the actual results or performance of Oklo may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The following important risk factors could affect Oklo's future results and cause those results or other outcomes to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements: risks related to the deployment of Oklo's powerhouses; the risk that Oklo is pursuing an emerging market, with no commercial project operating, regulatory uncertainties; the potential need for financing to construct plants, market, financial, political and legal conditions; the effects of competition; the risk that the DOE's Voucher Program fails to produce the expected benefits; changes in applicable laws or regulations; and the outcome of any government and regulatory proceedings and investigations and inquiries. The foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. You should carefully consider the foregoing factors and the other risks and uncertainties of the other documents filed by Oklo from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release and in any document incorporated by reference are based on current expectations and beliefs concerning future developments and their potential effects on Oklo. There can be no assurance that future developments affecting Oklo will be those that Oklo has anticipated. Oklo undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27 of the Securities Act, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. These statements are only a prediction. Actual events or results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements set forth herein. Readers are referred to Vertiv's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for a discussion of these and other important risk factors concerning Vertiv and its operations. Vertiv is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Globe and Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
Nvidia Just Topped a $4 Trillion Market Cap, but a Different Artificial Intelligence (AI) Giant Is Headed to $4.5 Trillion, According to a Certain Wall Street Analyst
Key Points Nvidia has seen its stock soar thanks to incredible demand for its high-end GPUs. Nvidia faces challenges from other GPU makers and custom silicon projects from its biggest customers. This company is an AI leader on two fronts and trades at a reasonable valuation. 10 stocks we like better than Nvidia › Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) has skyrocketed in value over the last three years to become the world's first $4 trillion company. The 10x-plus increase in value from three years ago was fueled by the massive spending on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, of which Nvidia's graphics processing units (GPUs) are a key component. Nvidia's dominance of the AI chip market faces some challenges, though. Competing GPU makers are catching up in price performance, and Nvidia's biggest hyperscale customers are leaning more on their custom silicon designs for generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications. That could weigh on its continued growth. Meanwhile, another AI giant could quickly follow Nvidia into the $4 trillion club and climb to $4.5 trillion within a year, according to analysts at Oppenheimer. And right now, the stock looks even more attractive than Nvidia. Can Nvidia remain the most valuable company in the world? Nvidia has established itself as the clear leader in developing chips for AI training. Its competitive position is bolstered not just by maintaining more advanced technological capabilities than its next-closest competitor, though. It also leans on its proprietary software, CUDA, making it unlikely another chipmaker can supplant its position. That said, some of Nvidia's biggest customers, like Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), are wary of becoming overly reliant on Nvidia for their AI training hardware needs. Meta, for example, is taking its Meta Training and Inference Accelerator platform and applying it to more and more generative AI applications. The next version of its chip is designed to replace Nvidia chips in AI training for its Llama foundation model. It's already using its own chips in some AI inference cases. Microsoft has similar aspirations for its Maia chips, but recently pushed back the timeline for its next-generation AI training chip to 2026 instead of this year. These types of setbacks have hit other hyperscalers in the past, including Meta, resulting in them putting in massive orders with Nvidia. However, as the big tech companies improve their design processes, they could displace a large portion of their demand for Nvidia's chips over time. For now, Nvidia's position looks well protected. That's especially true after news that the U.S. will reverse its ban on the sale of the throttled-down H20 chips in China. Nvidia wrote down $4.5 billion in inventory last quarter after the policy went in place. As a result, the company should produce strong earnings growth through the rest of the year, fueled by China and the hyperscalers. Still, the stock trades for a premium, approaching 40 times forward earnings estimates. At its current price and long-term hurdles, it might not be able to keep climbing as fast as some of the other big AI companies. The one company that could soon take Nvidia's crown Few companies even come close to the size of Nvidia at this point. There are just 10 companies with a market cap exceeding $1 trillion as of this writing, and just three of them are worth $3 trillion or more, including Nvidia itself. But Microsoft is the next-closest to Nvidia at about $3.8 trillion as of this writing, and it could join the $4 trillion in the near future, according to analysts at Oppenheimer. They put a $600 price target on the stock, implying a market cap of about $4.5 trillion and 19% upside from its price as of July 15. There are a couple of reasons Oppenheimer's analysts are bullish. First, they see acceleration in Microsoft's Azure cloud computing revenue. Azure has become the growth engine at Microsoft, fueled by demand for compute power needed for AI development. Microsoft's stake in OpenAI not only gives it a huge customer for Azure, but it also brings key tools for other AI developers. That's fueled significant growth in demand. And despite spending $80 billion on capital expenditures, mostly going toward building and outfitting new data centers, Microsoft's management says demand continues to outstrip supply. Even so, Azure is growing faster than any of the three big public cloud platforms. The other reason the analysts are bullish on Microsoft is the potential of its Copilot Studio. While they note demand for Microsoft's native AI assistant Copilot for Microsoft 365 is relatively tepid, the demand for its custom AI assistant platform Copilot Studio could produce much better results. That enables Microsoft to increase prices for its enterprise software suite while increasing retention rates. That should produce even more cash for the company to plow back into Azure and its massive capital return program, fueling earnings-per-share growth through higher earnings spread across fewer shares. Shares of Microsoft have grown relatively expensive in their own right, with the stock trading for about 33 times forward earnings. But that's a reasonable multiple to pay for the stock of a company that's leading the AI industry on two fronts with its cloud computing and enterprise software businesses. It's worth noting that Oppenheimer analysts updated their price target for Nvidia following the news that Nvidia expects the U.S. to reverse its ban on exporting chips to China. They now expect it to reach $200 per share, implying a market cap of $4.9 trillion. But for my money, I think Microsoft is the more attractive investment at the current price. 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See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 15, 2025 Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Adam Levy has positions in Meta Platforms and Microsoft. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Meta Platforms, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Fast Company
7 days ago
- Business
- Fast Company
AI data centers require massive amounts of power—making electricity more expensive for everyone around them
It's a staggering statistic: Around 70% of the world's internet traffic flows through Virginia. The state's data centers, some of which feature hallways nearly a mile long with thousands of thrumming servers on either side, make possible the billions of retail transactions, videos streams, and artificial intelligence queries that happen around the world each day. But as more data centers are built to accommodate AI and other data-intensive processes, energy demand is expected to skyrocket. A single hyperscale data center can use the same amount of energy as a large city, and the stress this is placing on local power grids is expected to drive up energy costs for residents in Virginia—and around the country. 'What we are projecting, with the contracts that are already in place, is that the energy demand in Virginia will almost double just because of AI and data centers,' says João Ferreira, a regional economist who worked on a recent report about data centers by the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission. 'That, of course, will impact all the electricity ratepayers, because we will end up paying more for electricity.' Virginia is an enormous energy importer This exploding demand is especially burdensome for states serviced by PJM, a regional transmission organization serving Virginia, 12 other states, and Washington, D.C. The organization, the largest of its kind in America, coordinates the movement of power from company to company and state to state. Virginia imports more energy than any other state—50.1 million megawatt hours, or 36% of its total energy supply, as of 2023—so the expansion of the state's energy needs are expected to reverberate throughout the PJM region. A recent report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis finds that ratepayers in other states will end up paying for the infrastructure that transports energy to data centers. West Virginia, which the report uses as a case study, could pay an estimated $440 million for two new energy transmission lines, despite having no data center industry of its own. These transmission lines—called the Mid-Atlantic Reliability Link and Valley Link—propose to bring energy from power plants in Pennsylvania to Virginia and from those in West Virginia to Maryland, respectively. These lines are still proposals, rather than ongoing construction projects. Still, they raise concerns because all ratepayers in the region will pay for the lines, passing hundreds of millions of dollars onto taxpayers in each state. When utility companies build transmission lines and other infrastructure, the cost is spread across all ratepayers in the region. The assumption is that these lines provide benefits, like reliability of electricity, to everyone, so everyone should pay for them. But the large data centers powering AI programs upend this logic, says Cathy Kunkel, author of the recent report and energy consultant at IEEFA. 'It's just so enormous and we're really talking about building infrastructure that would not be needed if not for the data centers,' Kunkel adds. A new model of electricity demand While data centers and other internet infrastructure have been powered by sources across state boundaries for decades, concerns about residential ratepayers' burdens are more intense than ever due to the mismatch between the modern demands of the energy sector and the legal framework governing it—much of which was developed decades ago, when our energy needs were quite different. 'Everybody gets electricity delivered from some company that has a monopoly on delivering electricity within that geographic area,' says Ari Peskoe, Director of the Electricity Law Initiative at Harvard Law School. 'Even though their prices are heavily regulated and their profit margins are regulated as well, they still want to grow their business.' The way that these businesses grow in this regulatory environment is by building out their physical infrastructure, which guarantees them a certain rate of return. The larger the company and the more infrastructure they manage, the more money is allowed to flow into the business. Hidden subsidies With this traditional model of regulated growth, data centers are a windfall. Their large size and energy needs means substantial infrastructure must be added to the grid, and energy companies do their best to attract data centers to the regions they serve. Peskoe has found that confidential deals often take place between data centers and utility companies, providing rates that are not as transparent as typical rate-setting processes. 'Everybody, obviously, is trying to reduce their own rate that they pay, but that, in effect, causes somebody else to pay more, because you have this billion-dollar pie that everything has to add up to,' Peskoe says. These hidden subsidies raise issues for legislators and residents, alike. States are struggling to meet environmental goals as transitions to renewable energy sources are put on hold and fossil fuel power plants reopen to help meet rising energy demand. Meanwhile, residents are already starting to feel the rising costs: 78% of Americans are stressed about their high energy bills, according to a CNET survey last year. Reacting to the Virginia Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission report last year, which touched on many of these issues, the tech-company backed Data Center Coalition (DCC) issued a statement highlighting the positive findings of the report. Namely that the industry 'supports 74,000 jobs, $5.5 billion in labor income, and $9.1 billion in GDP in Virginia' each year. 'We look forward to continuing to engage with policymakers about the JLARC findings and opportunities to advance positive economic, environmental, and social outcomes while building and supporting Virginia's 21st-century economy,' DCC President Josh Levi said in the statement. Searching for a fair system Community advocates, policy analysts, and economists advocate for reforming the way utilities serve the data center industry. Some states like Georgia and Ohio are starting to consider ratepayer protections—such as creating new rates that separate industries using large amounts of energy from industries and residents that do not—as their data center industries start to grow. Other states, like Utah and Maryland, are passing bills that provide transparent rate structures for data centers, aiming to eliminate the 'hidden subsidies.' In other cases, it's the utility companies themselves pushing back against fronting the cost of data center growth. Some companies are starting to require long-term contracts with guaranteed minimum payments from data centers, Kunkel says, ensuring they remain accountable for the long-term costs of infrastructure. As costs continue to rise, legislators are pushing for regulatory bodies to explore other solutions. In February, Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and three other senators wrote a letter urging the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to make guidelines insulating consumers against rising costs and other ill effects of increased energy demand. Later that month, FERC ordered a review of the issues AI data centers can cause other consumers, ultimately planning to evaluate the need for updated regulations. (Current FERC Chairman Mark Christie was nominated during President Trump's first term and has been in office since 2021. The agency has largely escaped the cuts and firings seen at other agencies within the Department of Energy.) Can Virginia teach us how to regulate data centers? Still, policy options for protecting consumers remain largely unexplored both at the local and national levels. FERC has not yet issued a comprehensive set of regulations for data centers, and this year—for the second year in a row—most of the laws to explicitly regulate the burgeoning industry and protect consumers from the price shocks associated with soaring power demand did not make it through Virginia's General Assembly. 'Too often, residents are left out of conversations about how data centers impact their daily lives—whether it's increased noise, strain on infrastructure, or rising electric bills,' said Del. Josh Thomas (D-Gainesville, Va.), in a Jan. 14 press briefing about proposed data center reforms within Virginia. Both houses of the Virginia state legislature passed bills that would have required localities to conduct a site assessment to gauge the impact of energy intensive facilities—including data centers—on noise, water, forests and cultural assets like parks and historical sites. During the legislative session, a representative from the Data Center Coalition told a House subcommittee that some of the proposed regulation—requiring a power-grid impact assessment before approving data center projects, for example—would signal to major businesses 'that their time and their money may be best invested elsewhere,' The Washington Post reported at the time. The Data Center Coalition represents 36 major companies in the data sector, including Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft and Meta. The bills were vetoed by the governor. One that was signed into law directs the State Corporation Commission, a state agency in charge of determining utility rates, to look into whether customers—like data centers—are being charged correctly for their energy usage. (The Coalition did not respond to an email asking their views on the passed measures.) With Virginia still at the forefront of the data center industry, it may be the best place to learn how to regulate data centers and protect impacted communities. But so far, community activists do not see Virginia as a positive role model. 'My perspective is that it's a cautionary tale,' says Julie Bolthouse, director of land use at Piedmont Environmental Council, a Virginia-based environmental advocacy group. 'Honestly, I've been very disheartened and jaded by the lack of action from Virginia compared to other states, especially around ratepayer protection.
