$Microsoft (MSFT.US)$Founder Bill Gates revealed that he will continue to invest billions of dollars into the 'next generation' of nuclear power plants in Wyoming, USA, to meet the increasing demand for electrical utilities.

In a weekend CBS program, Gates stated that TerraPower, the nuclear energy company he founded and chairs, broke ground last week in Wyoming to build its first commercial reactor, as a local coal-fired power plant has recently shut down.

Gates said that natural gas is replacing coal, and they want to compete effectively with natural gas. Gates is highly committed to nuclear power plant construction and said, 'I have invested over a billion dollars in TerraPower and will invest billions more.'

According to public news, the TerraPower nuclear power plant project was approved by the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission in May of this year. This is the first commercial 'non-light water' reactor in the US in over 40 years and is also regarded as the 'next generation' nuclear power plant project in the US. According to the New York Times, the project uses liquid sodium rather than water as a coolant, allowing for shorter construction time, lower operating costs, and no carbon dioxide emissions that contribute to global warming during power generation.

The TerraPower nuclear power plant project is supported by the US Department of Energy and was initially expected to be put into operation in 2028. Gates stated that TerraPower plans to purchase nuclear reactor fuel from the United States and its allies.

Carbon-free nuclear power is increasingly seen as a key means of addressing climate change, and many companies are deploying small-scale nuclear reactors. Bloomberg data shows that at the COP28 climate change conference held in Dubai last year, 25 countries announced ambitious goals to double their nuclear energy production.

AI's increasing demand for power has led Microsoft to bet on nuclear power for electricity generation.

As Microsoft continues to develop in the fields of AI and supercomputers, it is accelerating the deployment of nuclear power to meet their immense power needs. The electricity consumption of a new datacenter is equivalent to that of hundreds of thousands of households, and nuclear power can provide electricity around the clock.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman also told CNBC last year that nuclear energy may be the best solution to the increasing demand for energy caused by AI.

As early as 2008, Gates invested in and founded TerraPower, and has continued to support the development of the company. In June of this year, Microsoft also partnered with the largest nuclear energy company in the United States to provide 'precise to the second' power supply to Microsoft's Virginia datacenter. The United Energy company predicts that with the explosion of AI, the power demand of datacenters will be 5-6 times that of electric vehicle charging.

Editor/Somer